


One Insult Too Many

by Hexalys



Series: One Too Many [1]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Animal Transformation, Awesome Phil Coulson, BAMF Pepper, Gen, Howard Stark's Bad Parenting, Hurt Tony, Like Samuel L. Jackson, Loki & Tony Stark Friendship, Loki Does What He Wants, Loki Needs a Hug, Nick Fury Swears, Odin's Bad Parenting, Protective Bruce, Science Bros, Snarky Jarvis, Thor Is Not Stupid, Tony Feels, Tony Has Issues, Tony Stark Doesn't Like Being Handed Things, Tony really hates magic, cat!Tony, mentions of torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-02
Updated: 2014-05-15
Packaged: 2018-01-21 15:21:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 23,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1555043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hexalys/pseuds/Hexalys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony had to admit it, insulting Odin was definitely not the smartest thing he'd ever done. At this point, stuck out in the rain and covered with fur, he figured his luck couldn't get any worse... until Reindeer Games had to be the one to find him that is. Now he has to escape Loki and somehow return to normal. Should be easy enough. Oh, did he forget to mention the alien assassins after his head?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Quit While You're Ahead

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: By now it should be obvious that I am neither Stan Lee nor Disney; therefore I don't own Marvel or any of its characters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At one point in the Avengers movie Loki slightly explained how Thor had arrived on Midgard even though the Bifröst was destroyed. Loki says "How much dark energy did the All-father have to muster to conjure you here?" This sentence made me think that the All-Father must be far more knowledgeable in the ways of magic than I had originally thought.
> 
> So in this story Odin knows some magic, he just chooses not to use it. Magic is still considered weak to most Asgardians. I don't want anyone getting pissy and sending me PM's that say "Odin doesn't use magic like that!" You don't like it then hit the freaking back button. I don't appreciate flamers. This story is obviously AU and is mainly rated M because of Tony's foul mouth and mentions of torture and other unpleasant things.
> 
> In Iron Man 3, it's stated that it's been six months since the events in New York, this story takes place after three months, meaning that the timeline is Post-Avengers, but Pre-Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World. I tried to keep all characters as close to their basis as possible, but if any seem a little too OOC then I apologize in advance.
> 
> That being said please enjoy the story!

It had been a routine check-up that had led Tony Stark to be in Odin All-Father's presence. Only three months had passed since Loki's attempt to rule Earth, though sometimes it felt longer than that to Tony. Life had become so absolutely dull since the Chitauri invasion. No new bad guys had jumped out of the woodworks and the old ones stayed where they had been since they were last beaten, imprisoned or dead.

Fury, as per his agreement with Thor when he'd handed Loki over to Asgard, was entitled to a monthly check-up on Loki's status. One of the Avengers, besides Point Break obviously, would go to Asgard to make sure that Loki was still there and still being punished. A slight slap to Asgardian faces? Maybe, but one Fury felt was necessary. And grudgingly, it was something Tony could agree on too.

Very reluctantly, Thor had agreed to the monthly visits. Capsicle had been the first one to go check up on Loki and Agent Romanoff had taken the last visit. Tony had happily volunteered to go this time just to escape the monotony that had suddenly plagued his life. Fury had of course been hesitant to let him go, but with Legolas and Natashalie off on a mission and Rogers still out exploring the world, Fury had little choice in the matter.

So with an excited grin, Tony had arranged for Pepper to handle the company while he was gone for the day, not that she sort of didn't do that already. Pepper had shooed him off with an eye roll as she promised to take care of everything if he promised to stay safe and not cause any trouble. He left without kissing her goodbye, without telling her how much he cared for her. They were just friends now after all. It would be wrong and awkward if he said those things to her.

His almost death when getting rid of the nuke during the invasion had been the last straw.

Pepper had finally had enough. She could handle dating Tony Stark, but she couldn't handle dating Iron Man. He would have found her reasoning completely hilarious if he hadn't been so focused on not breaking down at the time. He could only think of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s assessment of him. Iron Man: Yes. Tony Stark: No. Wasn't that how it was supposed to work?

But Tony, being him, had accepted her choice with his usual humor and nonchalant attitude. " _Well, we gave it a shot, but let's face it,_ " He'd said while trying to muster up a smirk. It was a grimace at best, as he pretended that his world wasn't falling apart. She had let out a small sob in response while burying her face into the crook of his neck. " _I'm just not boyfriend material._ "

If anyone had noticed how forced his smiles were after that, if they had seen the cracks in his mask, they'd been smart enough not to point it out. He cared for Pepper, but he couldn't give up being Iron Man any more than he could tear the Arc Reactor from his chest. So Tony ignored the way he longed to hold her again and buried himself into creating new suits. The following weeks were a blur of restless nights, regrets, and alcohol. But the world hadn't ended, Pepper hadn't walked out of his life completely, and Tony had somehow managed to pull himself back together. And Pepper, sweet wonderful beautiful Pepper, returned to her old role as his PA while he had finally stepped up to the plate and became the CEO of Stark Industries.

Things had been strained between them at first, but he handled the situation by ignoring it, like he always did. Pepper eventually stopped looking like she was going to break down every time he gave her a fake smile. Yet sometimes, when they were alone, she would look at him with that same longing on her face. In those moments, he wanted her back so badly, but every time he tried to reconcile, she shot him down, leaving him to swallow bitter feelings and angry words, along with any alcohol he could get his hands on.

79 days, 18 hours, and 36 minutes. That was how long it had been since Pepper had dumped his sorry ass, not that Tony was counting. The lack of Pepper and increase of work involving Stark Industries was a change in his life that he still hated and wouldn't be getting used to any time soon. Especially with all the board meetings he now had to go to. He really hated those. But at least he still had his suits.

Arriving on Asgard via Tesseract left him feeling like his insides wanted to be on his outsides, but other than the frown on his face, Tony gave no sign of his discomfort. Thor, who had already made the trip with both Rogers and Romanoff, wasn't fooled. The God of Thunder, however, apparently knew better than to point out his queasiness.

Thor wasn't nearly as thick as Loki had painted him out to be.

Any traveling sickness Tony had was quickly forgotten when his eyes met with the stunning sight that was Asgard. The first thing he noticed was the deep water that surrounded the mass of land, the harrowing cliffs, and the bright green of unknown plants. White polished stone and gold buildings towered in the distance, some floating others simply rising out of the mountains themselves. There was so much to see, to explore, and he felt as if it would take ten of his lifetimes to take it all in. Still, he had to keep up appearances. Outwardly Tony kept his face blank, raising only his right eyebrow ever so slightly. He never openly gaped at anything, even if it was an alien city that had only existed in myths.

"Huh, neat towers, but mine is bigger." Sadly, Point Break didn't seem to understand the underlining innuendo. The big muscled guy in gold armor certainly did though, if his glare was anything to go by.

"Man of Iron, this is Heimdall the guardian of the Bifröst and overseer of all." Thor introduced as he gestured to the giant man. ' _Holy shit, this guy is bigger than Thor, and oh gee look at that, he's got a huge-ass sword too._ ' Despite this thought, Tony's attention rapidly shifted from the glaring guard to what they were standing on, a broken glowing bridge that led off into the vastness of space itself. "I wish you well in continuing the restoration of the Bifröst, my friend." Shaq nodded his head solemnly as he took the Tesseract from Thor. ' _Huh, so they're repairing this then._ ' He briefly wondered what had caused the damage in the first place and why, but the amazing view was more far more interesting than a broken bridge. It probably didn't matter much anyways.

Millions of stars filled the inky black sky and the scientist in him found that he couldn't identify any of them. But as he slowly lost himself in the sight, Tony felt his throat tighten dangerously and he suddenly remembered the nuke, going through the portal, and not being able to breathe. He whirled back to Thor, ignoring Shaq's gaze, and fought back against the panic attack that was starting to build up in his chest. ' _Don't think about it. Jesus Christ, whatever you do, just don't think about it._ '

Fortunately they made it off of the Rainbow Bridge in record time, and Tony took a few jabs at its' the rather flamboyant symbolisms to keep his mind off of the memories that were slowly fading into the background. Thor not getting what he was referring again took most of the fun out of it. Tony decided to meet Loki's assessment concerning Thor halfway. The God of Thunder could be thick most of the time. When they reached the golden gates of Asgard, Thor revealed their mode of transportation.

"Surely you have seen a horse before, my friend?" Tony grimaced as the horse he was supposed to ride, huffed a breath of rancid air into his face. He was not impressed.

"Of course I have Hammer Time, I just don't like them." He replied as he backed away from the brown horse that tried to nibble on his favorite Armani suit. Pepper had forced him to wear it. He'd wanted to take a suit, perhaps show off his newest creation, the Mark XVII a.k.a. Heartbreaker. He'd started to nickname his suits, Pepper had looked at him oddly when he'd first introduced her to Sneaky. But Thor had said it would've been frowned upon, disrespectful. And it was utter bullshit. If Thor got to his wear armor, then why couldn't he?

"But horses are very noble creatures, how can you hold any dislike towards them?" Thor patted the horse he was currently sitting on, a large white steed that only managed to make him look even more like a fairytale prince. After a bit more complaining and stalling from Tony, they eventually headed towards the golden citadel.

Traveling through the town had been different. He had felt like he was sent back to medieval times. People walked about in renaissance garb and greeted him and Thor in old English by shouting "hail" every few minutes. They crowded the cobblestone streets, chattering and cheering as they rode on. For the most part Tony just waved, sometimes he sent a smirk or a wink to the surrounding groups of women, earning a few blushes and giggles. The cultural differences didn't matter at this point. He would always know how to work a crowd.

Arriving at the foot of the palace, he allowed himself just a few seconds to be stunned by the impressive structure in front of him. This was the home of supposed gods after all.

Point Break offered to take him to the dining hall to feast, but Tony turned him down, suggesting that they eat after checking in on Loki. He eyed the long hallway with curiously. Honestly he'd been expecting an old-fashioned dungeon of some kind, buried deep into the ground that they would have gotten to by traveling down a spiraled staircase that would have seemed endless. He'd expected rusty chains, stone walls, and lit torches. What Tony got was something much more civilized.

The jail cells weren't located miles underground but rather placed in an off to the side chamber that hadn't looked any different from the rest of the palace, save for the extra guards. Loki's cell was at the very front of the hallway and closest to the entrance. Personally, it was definitely not where he would have placed the God of Mischief.

The walls of the individual prison cells themselves were made out of a force field of some kind that Tony could only describe as a see-through yellow honeycomb pattern. Magic was undeniably the source and his fingers itched to touch them as questions ran through his mind. What did they feel like? Were the walls made of energy? Was there some sort of countermeasure to dissuade prisoners from touching it, like an electric fence? Did it run off a natural energy source? How was something so simple looking able to keep Loki detained?

While the cell itself was about the size of the one on the Helicarrier, only it was square shaped instead of round. As he looked over the chamber he saw that Loki was clearly not being deprived from a comfortable environment. The bed, though not overly large, looked elegant enough with a carved bedframe, embroiled green blankets, and plenty of pillows. A chair rested in the center of the room, made out of gold and green velvet with a fancy footrest to match. In the corner sat a pile of books and next to them was a basin full of water. In the corner closest to him, Tony spotted a cast-iron table with a book, a plate with some fruit on it, a jug of water and a lone cup. ' _What? No matching curtains?_ _Doesn't the evil villain who raised hell on Earth deserve a little bit of privacy?_ '

Oddly enough, he noticed that there was a thin layer of dust coating the table.

Loki himself was there, sitting on the floor next to the see-through barrier and looking more relaxed than he rightly should. As they got closer to the magic wall, the honeycomb yellow pattern began to fade a little, giving him an uninhibited view of Loki and his cell. Thor coughed politely to let him know that they were there and Reindeer Games gave an irritated sigh before he turned to them, an opened book resting in his hands. Tony took his time looking over Loki's appearance, and besides the lack of armor and his hair being a little longer, the imprisoned God hadn't changed at all in looks during the past three months.

"I see it is time for another update on my imprisonment." Loki said as he returned an assessing gaze with a sneer visible on his pointed face. "Pity, I was rather hoping it would be Agent Barton this time." Loki promptly returned to his book and paid them no more mind. Tony, understandably, was slightly insulted. He didn't come all the way to Asgard just to get snubbed by a Viking diva.

"Hey there Rock of Ages, good to see you too, though I would prefer for your abode to be a little more punishing." He said while rocking back and forth on his feet, looking at Loki through the barrier. "Maybe they could spruce up your room with something a little more dungeon-y… like an Iron Maiden. I'd be more than happy to design one for ya. I could even personalize it by coloring it green and gold!" He smiled a little as Loki frowned down at his book.

"Ah, Midgardian wit, I can't say that I've missed it." The god sighed. "As much as I'm amused by your paltry insults Man of Iron, you can see for yourself that I am very much still here. Perhaps you could go and find something shiny to entertain yourself with? That should keep you and Thor busy for a few hours." Loki replied without looking up from his damn book. Tony was really starting to hate that book, because honestly, what could possibly be more fascinating than him?

He was about to say as much, when an epiphany struck and he narrowed his eyes instead. He was pretty sure that if he was in Loki's position, he'd be milking his visitors for everything they had, be that information or just a stimulating conversation, anything to break the boredom. But Loki wasn't, in fact he was purposefully pushing them away. And Tony had a sneaky suspicion why that was. Motioning for Thor to open the door, he was only met with slight reluctance.

"He is still very dangerous Man of Iron, even if father has locked away most of his magic." Thor whispered not so quietly. After a few more minutes of pushing and prodding though, Tony got his way and he and Thor both entered Loki's cell. The barrier fell down to allow them to enter before shooting back up into place. Thor held Mjolnir aloft, clearly trying to dissuade his psycho brother from trying anything.

Tony walked forwards, showing that he had the utmost confidence in what he was doing and Loki just smiled back as he crouched down to touch the God's shoulder. He wasn't at all surprised to find his hand go through Loki's body. Point Break was though as he was currently vehemently swearing in a language that he couldn't understand. Loki's image flickered under his touch for a second and Tony jerked back in surprise, studying his hand intently. He had felt something for a second there, a numbing sensation that was quickly disappearing. ' _Is that what magic feels like?_ '

"I had wondered who was to be the Avenger that figured out my escape, well done Man of Iron." The fake-Loki said from his position on the floor. "Pray tell, what gave me away?" Tony stuck his hands in his pockets, ignoring Thor's cursing and the fading sensation in his hand. Instead he watched, feeling inappropriately amused as some of the guards bumped into each other in their search for Loki. He scoffed at them, because obviously the God of Assholes was long gone and had been for a while now.

Fury was going to be pissed.

"Little things like the dust covering your table and the books in the corner. Your book, I'm assuming that it's part of the illusion too?" Hologram-Loki nodded slowly. "Not bad, you holding onto something I thought was solid, the book would automatically make me think you were real. I'm guessing that's why no one felt there was any reason to check until now." Tony paused as Loki gave him an appraising look and he felt himself smirk in response.

"Also, you were pushing us away too fast. You were so willingly to entertain when imprisoned on the Helicarrier. To me, the fact that you wanted us gone was obvious, meaning you were hiding something. I was only half sure that you were an illusion. Touching you was just the quickest way to prove if my theory was correct." He explained and the not-really-Loki tilted his head to the side, still sporting that smug smile.

"I am impressed mortal, take pride in that." The pretender-Loki said as he closed his book with a snap and stood up. Tony took a slight step back, just to be cautious. He didn't know what kind of hocus pocus an illusion-Loki could do. "But know this Man of Iron, I will have my revenge." And just like that, replica-Loki was gone, leaving nothing behind but a cloud of dust filling the air. Tony reached out, touching the dust and pulled back immediately as he felt the numbing sensation returned. ' _Not dust then, but particles left over from the spell breaking down._ ' The following events were a blur to Tony as he was quickly dragged off by a worried Thor to see the All-Father.

"Surely my father will know what to do Man of Iron. Perhaps Heimdall will be able to lend some assistance as well." Thor explained as they ran through hallways filled with panicking guards and servants. And wow, he knew that this was a bad time to point this out, but weren't the gold gilded halls going just a little too far? He could appreciate ostentatiousness, but this was too much, even for him. Tony was pretty damn sure he'd even seen one panicky servant girl carrying a bowl full of golden apples. He vaguely wondered if the coloring affected their taste.

So there he was, standing before Odin All-Father, who could arguably be the most powerful being in the universe and honestly, he wasn't that impressed. He'd expected something more intimidating, not some old man in a dress. There was much shouting on Thor's part as he explained what was wrong and Tony merely stood beside the blonde god, wishing he had his phone on him to fiddle with. His hands felt oddly itchy and he absently rubbed them together, wondering if the feeling was leftover from touching Loki's magic.

"It seems that Loki is far more resourceful than I gave him credit for." Odin stated once Thor had finished his explanation. Tony didn't bother to hide his scoff at that statement. He looked up when he realized that a heavy silence had fallen over the audience chamber. Right, he was among royalty and gods. They probably didn't like being disrespected so openly. Thor shot him a look, but Tony only had eyes for Odin in that moment.

"You find this amusing, mortal?" Odin asked, his tone coming out firm and a little condescending, but nothing close to hostile. Gauging the king's reaction, Tony took it as a sign to continue.

"Well, I just find it funny that you underestimated your own kid and I guess I find it funny that a _mortal_ like me had to point out your son's escape." He answered evenly as he looked up at Odin. "Three months and not one of you noticed he was gone? It seems gods aren't so infallible after all. Really, there's a lot of humor here for me to appreciate."

"So you laugh at me, mortal?" A wiser man would have stopped there. A more timid man would have apologized for his words. Tony was neither of those things. As he looked up at Odin, he noticed startling similarities between the king and a certain director. Namely the eye-patch and the _"_ don't-even-think-about-fucking-with-me" attitude both men seemed to radiate through their glares alone. That was more than enough of a reason to dislike the god standing before him.

Fury often went unchecked, tossing around orders and expecting every command to be followed without the slightest hesitation. Tony was proud to be an obstacle that stood in Fury's way. He made the man stop and realize that he wasn't always right and wouldn't always get what he wanted. Now it looked like Odin could use that reality check too and he was more than happy to oblige.

"No, I'm laughing at the situation in general." Tony said sarcastically before he continued in a more serious tone. "Maybe if you hadn't underestimated Loki in the first place, none of this would have happened." He gestured to the city outside, referring to a lot more than just the current situation, before he turned to look back at Odin. He didn't see the warning looks Thor was sending at his back nor did he notice the way Odin's stance suddenly became rigid. "Loki's brain is a bag of cats. I just figured his dad would know him better than me."

' _And maybe,_ ' Tony remarked silently to himself, ' _I'm just projecting my father issues in his stead._ ' Because truthfully, that's what Tony really saw when he looked at Odin. Not the king of a bunch of space Vikings or a double of Nick Fury, but rather a Howard Stark who'd lived to see old age. There was just something about Odin, maybe it was the position of power, the reverence that others had for him. Or maybe it was the way Odin had looked down on him from the moment they'd met. Like he wasn't worthy or some other bullshit like that.

Whatever the case, the All-Father reminded him of Howard and Tony hated him for that.

The look of outrage on Odin's face was only slightly surprising to see, but he smiled up at the God just the same. He could annoy anyone, be it the can-do-no-wrong Capsicle, the always-in-control Fury, or even the All-Knowing Odin. There was no person whose skin he couldn't get under. Admittedly, Tony took a little more satisfaction from this ability then he probably should. Feeling good about himself, because hey look at that, Odin's face is starting to turn red, he turned to address Thor about going back to Midgard, purposefully giving his back to the fuming king. Just as he opened his mouth though, Tony suddenly felt something sharp drive into his back.

It was pain itself. It burned into him, into his skin, into his bloodstream, into his very bones. Every part of him hurt, from his toes to his ears, but in the background he could feel that numbing sensation he'd experienced after touching Loki's magic.

He screamed.

Tony fell to his knees, hardly paying attention to anything besides the burning that burrowed deeper into his body. It was if the Arc Reactor was poisoning him all over again, palladium was pounding through his veins and his body was breaking down. There was something digging into his chest. Maybe it was the shrapnel finally claiming his life? ' _Oh god, please make it stop!_ ' He could barely hear someone, ' _Odin?_ ', yelling over his screams as another voice, ' _Thor_ _, help me!_ ', whispered soft, but worried words into his ear.

Before he could fully pass out from the pain, Tony saw Odin glowering down at him with a look of hatred that didn't remind of him of either Fury or Howard. No, instead it made him think of someone who was much worse. In that moment, the god reminded him of Obadiah Stane more than anybody else ever could.

' _And maybe,_ ' Tony thought weakly before drifting off, ' _I should have quit while I was ahead._ '

* * *

Thor looked up from his now unconscious comrade to his father, who appeared to be more enraged than the day of his banishment. It was understandable, the Man of Iron had said terrible things, but Thor knew better than to take them to heart. His father, however, did not understand the Man of Iron like he did and the God of Thunder was certain that the Son of Stark meant no true hurt with his words.

"Father, what have you done?" He whispered worriedly as the Man of Iron's body began to shift frantically in his hold. His hands tightened as the mortal gave a pitiful whine. He'd seen this man fly to his death and Thor knew how much strength it took to do that. Yet here the mortal was, reduced to shameful cries that were unfitting for such a warrior and his heart ached at knowing that his father was the cause of such pain.

Thor could readily admit that he was not very close to the Man of Iron, but the man was an ally and a friend, a shield-brother. He had sworn that Midgard and all who dwelled there were under his protection. It hurt him to see his friend like this and that his father would ignore his vow so blatantly. Were his words and oaths so meaningless in the eyes of his king?

"I have castigated the impudent mortal for his tongue. No being, be it Asgardian or Midgardian, can insult I and not be punished." The All-Father said in a tone that left no room for argument. There was a rage that filed his tone that Thor was unfamiliar with. He'd never seen his king act this way before. It felt as if the throne room itself was shaking from such a fury.

"This is not right father, the Man of Iron held no true intent to cause you harm with his words, merely to annoy and aggravate. He pushes others, much like Loki…" Thor argued, wanting nothing more than to demand his father to undo whatever spell he had cast. He knew not to though, that would only make the All-Father angrier than he already was. "He is my comrade."

"You dare question me, of my rights to retribution?" Odin roared from his place near his throne, causing Thor to flinch backwards a little. It was silent in the chamber for a few minutes, save for the piteous whimpers that came from the Man of Iron.

Thor was about to speak again, when his attention was abruptly brought back to the Son of Stark, who had never once stopped struggling in his grip. His comrade's body seemed to cave in on itself, growing smaller with each passing second. Bones shifted and cracked as dark patches of fur started to appear, hiding his skin from view. In a matter of moments the Man of Iron had lost his mortal form and instead took the likeness of a very small four legged Midgardian creature Thor believed to be called a cat. Gently, he picked up his transformed friend into hands, worried at how tiny of a creature the mortal was now. A glow reflected off his small chest, proving that the creature he held was indeed Tony Stark.

"Leave for Midgard Thor, warn them of Loki's escape. I will have Heimdall search through every realm, through every planet, to find your brother." Thor knew that was his dismissal, that any chance he had of convincing his father to return the mortal to his normal state was gone for the moment. He brought the Man of Iron close to his chest, his massive hands hiding the small creature from his father's piercing sight.

"What am I to tell my comrades as to what has happened to the Man of Iron?" He asked stiffly as he rose up and purposefully turned his back on the All-Father. It was the only disrespectful action he could take without reprimand that truly displayed how upset he was towards his king.

"I do not care Thor."

It was moments later that he arrived on Midgard with a heavy heart as he made his way to the Tower of Stark, still holding the mortal close to him. Thor was not looking forward to confronting his friends about what his father had done, but he dreaded the moment that the Son of Stark would awaken. He knew the Man of Iron was a very proud Midgardian. To be reduced to such a state would be a great blow to the mortal's vanity, a blow that Tony did not deserve. While he had spoken out of turn, the mortal had said nothing that wasn't the truth.

And what a painful truth it was.

His father was not the only one who had failed Loki, he had failed as well. He had failed to be a kinder brother. He had failed to save Loki from falling into darkness. And finally, he'd failed to help his brother heal during his imprisonment.

Thor reached his destination after a good bit of walking, as he did not wish to fly for fear of dropping his diminutive friend. His journey was interrupted several times as many mortals ran up to greet him. Having been a prince all his life, Thor knew how to handle such large and cheering crowds, but the Midgardians had still managed to delay him quite a bit. By the time he reached the Tower of Stark, the sun had already begun to set.

As Thor was about to enter the Man of Iron's home, the sounds of honking and screaming reached the God's ears and he turned his head to see a vehicle, a bus he believed Jane had called it, careening through the intersection. Cries for help blared from the speeding machine and Thor hesitated only for a second before he placed the Man of Iron just inside a nearby alleyway.

"Please do not move from this spot my friend, I will return as quickly as I am able." He said urgently to the still unconscious Tony Stark before using Mjolnir to chase after the bus.

* * *

Tony awoke to the worst headache he'd had in a long while. He grunted to himself, the noises sounding like high pitched whimpering to his ears and ceased the action immediately. There was no reason to sound like a wimp if Pepper wasn't there to fuss over him. He sluggishly brought himself into a sitting position, not even bothering to stand at this point as he was already beginning to feel dizzy and off balance.

God, what the fuck did he drink last night and where could he get more of it?

He slowly opened his eyes as the dizziness began to fade and blinked owlishly at his surroundings. There had been many times in his life where he'd woken up to find that he had no idea where he was, waking up in a gutter was a first for him though. Turning his gaze over the alleyway, Tony realized that he must be sitting in a ditch or something because _everything_ towered over him.

As his senses slowly came back to him, the sharp smell of garbage and other unpleasant things burned into his nose. He'd never smelt anything so awful before and it was so overpowering that it made his headache even worse. Always one for the dramatics, Tony made some very loud and obnoxious gagging noises. He was pleased with how the effect turned out, he sounded like he was coughing up a hairball.

Deciding he had enough fun of lying about in a dirty alleyway, he pushed himself up to stand, only to tumble back down to the ground immediately. ' _What the hell? I must have hit the bar hard last night._ ' He waited a few minutes before trying to stand again, only to end up falling over once more. Looking down at himself to see what the problem was, he was met with the odd sight of four furry legs.

The yell that came from his mouth was far from sounding human.

Panicked, Tony tumbled backwards, desperately trying to escape the furry legs that were apparently attached to him. Backing into a pile of cardboard pizza boxes did nothing except get His fur, ' _Fur, I'm covered in fucking fur!_ ' coated in pizza sauce and greasy cheese. It took a few seconds for him to realize that he was hissing and making unintelligible noises that sounded like high pitched mews. He didn't stop though. His situation demanded a total freak-out.

" _I'm a cat! I'm a fucking cat! I'm a motherfucking_ _CAT!_ " He repeated out loud, though his words only came out as distressed meows. His heart beat viciously in his chest, his body was shaking, and Tony could feel his breaths starting to quicken. He forced himself to slow down and focused his thoughts to keep from passing out. ' _Okay calm down. Fuck, just calm down and think for a second. What the hell happened? Why I am I like this?_ ' And then it all came back to him, the trip to Asgard, Loki's escape, and– Odin. " _That one-eyed bastard! He turned me into a fucking cat!_ " Shock and panic shifted as venomous feeling pulsed through his body. It was an emotion he could easily recognize.

Rage and it had been a long time since he'd felt it this powerfully.

And Tony was so busy stewing in his newly born anger, envisioning himself kicking Odin's ass, that he didn't notice as something crawled out from behind a nearby dumpster, eagerly heading towards him. A smell, a nasty one, reached his small nose and his hackles rose on instinct.

" _Ugh, what the hell is that horrible smell?_ " His question was answered by the sound of a deep growl. " _Oh shit._ " Tony quickly turned around and saw a giant mangy looking dog, eyeing him with the same look he got when it came to scotch. " _Hey, what's up Cujo?_ " He asked as he slowly backed away from the dog and its growl deepened. " _Okay, if you promise not to eat me now, I swear I'll come back when I'm human and buy you enough prime rib to last a lifetime._ "

The dog charged forwards, yellow teeth exposed, and Tony raced out of the alleyway, running as fast as his short and clumsy legs could take him. As he sprinted blindly, the sound of honking and yelling penetrated his fear clouded mind, and he looked up to see a giant tire attached to a taxi heading straight towards him.

He froze. There were no thoughts in his head, no biting words cursing Odin with everything he had. There was just fear, pure unadulterated dread. This was it. This was how he was going to die. Not in some grand fight as Iron Man, or drinking himself into an early grave, but as fucking road kill!

The taxi swerved at the last moment and the resounding crash of it hitting a nearby streetlight shook Tony out of his "deer-in-front-of-the-headlights" moment. He continued his running, barreling past the gawking crowds as he heard the barking steadily grow louder. He wasn't sure how long he ran. Tony just knew that by the time he stopped and hid in a new alley that night had fallen. He collapsed on the ground, cursing Thor, Odin, Loki, and every other Norse God to ever exist.

Where was Thor anyway? Why had he been in that alleyway alone? What was he going to do?

" _The Avengers, if I can get back to the Tower I can contact the others. Thor will show up sooner or later and then he can fix what his fucked up dad did._ " He said out loud as he looked down at the Arc Reactor in his chest. It would be enough to get his teammates' attention and from there Thor could explain what happened. Never before had Tony been so happy to have his Arc Reactor than right now.

Unfortunately, finding his Tower was a hell of a lot more difficult than he'd originally thought.

Everything looked so different from his new point of view and the crowds of people were a pain in the ass to get through as he now had to avoid getting stepped on. It wasn't until he had found a street sign that he realized just how far away he was from Stark Tower. The hike back home would take a few of hours and he had the feeling that this trip wouldn't be anything like Homeward Bound. And of course, after an hour of walking, it started to rain cats and dogs. Tony was pretty sure that old saying had something to do with Odin and he cursed the god once again as he was forced to run through the downpour. He took shelter in another alleyway, hiding under a stack of boxes and looking thoroughly miserable. Eventually he curled up into a ball, shivering uncontrollable as he slipped into an uneasy sleep.

His nightmares consisted of Loki laughing in his face, and then Odin appeared only to turn into Obie, who was tearing the Arc Reactor out of his chest. The man's words ringing in his ears as he desperately tried to move, but couldn't and everything felt oddly numb. " _ **When I ordered the hit on you, I was worried that I was killing the golden goose.**_ " ' _Obie, you bastard, I trusted you!_ ' " _ **A new generation of weapons,**_ " The Arc Reactor was hovering in front of his face, just out of reach. " _ **with this at its heart.**_ "

A flash of lightning and the crack of thunder woke Tony from his less than restful sleep. Hunger made itself known with a pitiful growl from his stomach, and now he wishes he had taken up Thor's offer of eating before seeing Loki. However, the billionaire was not so hungry that he needed to scrounge through the trash for food like he really was an alley cat. As the rain carried on, he eventually had to move deeper into the lane, as his shelter had become soaked through and had started to drip water on top of his still damp head.

Again, he found that he was not alone in the alleyway and this guy was just about as welcoming as Cujo had been. A rather large and ugly looking rat stared down at him from its spot on top of the trashcans. They had a bit of a standoff before the rat suddenly launched itself at him. Tony yelped as he felt its claws dig into his left side. It hissed and screeched and he was once again forced to run away from a larger attacker. His side burned with every step he took, but it was better than being eaten.

" _Of course I just have to run into the largest fucking rat in New York City, the damn thing is the size of a raccoon!_ _And of course Odin has to turn me into a fucking kitten. Talk about adding insult to injury, as if being an adult cat wouldn't have been degrading enough!_ " At this time of night, and considering the rain, Tony hadn't expected to find another living creature out on the sidewalk. Sure enough though, he almost ran straight into a pair of human shaped legs as he took a sharp turn to escape his pursuer. He hid behind the pair of legs and Ratzilla came around the corner, pausing at seeing the larger creature in front of Tony.

With a few threatening hisses he took to mean as, you come near my shit again and I will fuck you up! Ratzilla turned around to return from whence it came. Sighing in relief, Tony took a second to let his heart rate return back to normal.

" _Thanks for the save pal. I gotta tell ya, ending up as Ratzilla's meal would have been worst way to die ever._ " He said tiredly as he looked up at his would-be rescuer. He froze at the sight of those intense green eyes that were looking down at him. Sure, the god was in a normal enough suit and had cut his hair, but Tony would recognize those crazy green eyes anywhere.

Loki.

' _Holy motherfucking shit_ _!_ '

Before Tony could even take a step backwards, he was scooped off the ground and hanging in the air within the blink of an eye. Loki had grabbed him by the fur on the back of his neck, pinching it hard enough to make him cringe. His eyes looked into Loki's green ones, desperately hoping for a bout of lightning to strike the god where he stood. A long pale finger came up and tapped against the mini Arc Reactor in his chest and Tony knew that he was caught from the way that Reindeer Games glared at him.

"It would seem you've managed to get yourself into quite a bit of trouble, Anthony Stark." Loki said as he smirked at him and gave the former human a harsh shake, renewing the pain in his injuries. Tony was utterly appalled by the weak sounding meow that escaped his throat. Loki laughed mockingly and Tony didn't know if he wanted to curl up into a ball of shame or scratch the god's eyes out.

He chose the latter.

He reached out and struck at Loki with his new cat-like reflexes. Unfortunately, his small limbs weren't long enough to reach the god's face. Another thing Tony forgot to factor in was that he was indeed a kitten and a kitten's claws were far from impressive. The tiny nails got stuck in the fabric of the green scarf Loki was wearing. After several feeble attempts of trying to free his paws, he reluctantly looked up at Loki for help. The god was smiling haughtily and as he pried Tony's small paws out of his scarf, he knew his pride could sink no lower.

"Come Stark, we have much catching up to do, you and I." Loki said as he stalked down the street holding an umbrella in one hand and a bleeding, fur-soaked Tony Stark in the other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The phrase "raining cats and dogs" has no definitive origin. In fact there are several different theories to what the phrase might have meant at one point of time. One supposed origin is that the phrase derives from mythology. Dogs and wolves were attendants to Odin, the god of storms, and sailors associated them with rain. Witches, who often took the form of their familiars - cats, are supposed to have ridden the winds. Somehow, they put the two together and got that.
> 
> Side note, I went back to re-describe Loki's cell since we actually know what it looks like now thanks to Thor: The Dark World. Tony's got that little panic attack problem, just like in Iron Man 3, so you can see that I'm trying to stay close to what the supposed storyline would be if things had gone this way.
> 
> –Hexalys


	2. Sleeping In The Rain

Pepper was worried.

It was nearing midnight and yet there was still no sign of Tony. She realized that her boss had a tendency to get distracted when something caught his eye, but this was pushing it, even for him. She had called S.H.I.E.L.D., who told her Tony hadn't returned from Asgard yet, but that they would let her know when he did. Bruce had come to join her in the living room as they waited for S.H.I.E.L.D.'s call.

Surprisingly, Pepper found that she liked Bruce. He had moved into the tower after the Chitauri Invasion and was more than welcome in her opinion. At first she had been nervous to let the man stay for obvious reasons, but he'd proven to be an invaluable ally when it came to managing Tony. Bruce was more than happy to help her with getting Tony to eat or sleep when he was experiencing one of his breakthroughs and ignored everything around him save for the project he was working on. Besides, Tony could use more friends besides herself, Happy and Rhodey.

A little after eleven, Natasha had shown up with Clint to wait with them as the duo's mission had been completed hours ago. Pepper welcomed them warmly, having met with them frequently as Stark Tower had seemed to become something of a motel for the passing Avenger, Bruce was the only one who actually lived in the Tower. The only Avengers not present were Captain America and Thor. Thor wasn't there for obvious reasons and Steve was absent because Tony wouldn't have appreciated it if she had called him. There were some longs that just shouldn't be crossed, no matter the situation.

Pepper knew that Tony still didn't like Steve very much, or at all really. Therefore it was a complete surprise when Jarvis had announced that Steve Rogers was on his way up ten minutes after midnight. Steve explained that he'd received a call from headquarters telling him about Tony's unusual lateness and had thought it best to see the situation for himself. Despite this though, Pepper was silently thankful for the support and returned to nervously waiting with the others for any news of Tony.

It was moments like these that were the reason for why Pepper had broken it off with Tony. This feeling of hopelessness, of not knowing what had happened, and it literally ate at her insides. So she had said that she'd had enough, that she was done with Iron Man. And Tony had just stepped back and let her go, smiling that broken smile of his and sleeping with the first blond he could get his hands on.

She had tried dating others, but none of them made her feel the way Tony had. Yet still Pepper refused to go back to him, it was too painful.

She just wanted to move on, to find a man who didn't fight terrorists and fly nuclear missiles into space at the cost of his own life. She wanted a man who remembered her birthday or that she was severely allergic to strawberries. She wanted a man who didn't keep secrets from her, who didn't try to drink himself into an early grave.

" _Miss Potts, Mister Odinson is coming up in the elevator now._ " Jarvis said to the full room and Pepper felt her heart plummet as blood raced in her ears.

Just Thor?

Where was Tony?

"Isn't Tony with him?" Pepper asked, even though she knew he wasn't, Jarvis would have told her if he was. She felt Bruce grip her shoulder tightly from where he stood behind her, offering her his silent support. Thank god for Bruce, Pepper wasn't sure how she could have handled this waiting all alone.

" _No, Miss Potts._ " Jarvis answered quietly, sounding solemn as he delivered the bad news. It always amazed her how human the AI could act and sound, but then again he'd been made by Tony.

As the elevator dinged, Pepper couldn't help but think about all the things that could have possibly gone wrong. Had Tony even reached Asgard or had there been an accident while using the Tesseract? Was he now stranded on some distant alien planet that no one could find? Had Loki escaped and taken Tony hostage? For once, Pepper prayed that Tony was just being his irresponsible self. That he had simply chosen to stay longer to study Asgardian technology further or that he'd decided to bed an actual goddess. She didn't care what selfish thing it was, just so long as it meant that Tony wasn't hurt.

Thor walked into the room, soaked from the thunderstorm outside and looking utterly defeated as Mjolnir hung awkwardly in his grip. Once Pepper made eye contact with the God of Thunder, she knew something awful had happened. His blue eyes broke away first, spiraling down towards the floor in a guilty matter and she was almost too afraid to ask what happened.

"Where is he Thor?"

* * *

Being manhandled by Loki wasn't exactly a new experience for Tony. The God _had_ thrown him out of a window the last time they'd met face to face. Of course, his current situation was very different from a few months ago. One obvious fact was that he'd been human at the time. Another was that the Avengers had known where he was and had been on their way. This time, Tony was on his own. There were no Avengers assembling and there was no Iron Man suit coming to save him.

He struggled weakly in Loki's grip, already feeling the exhaustion from today's earlier events taking their toll on his small body. Tony didn't really try that hard to get free considering that he didn't want to fall from his current height. If the landing didn't break one of his legs, then it would certainly worsen his Ratzilla wounds. Loki also had very little patience for his constant fidgeting, if the last rough shake was anything to go by. Eventually he did stop moving, preferring to curl up into a small ball instead to contain his body heat. It was nearing the end of summer, so the weather was still relatively warm, but Tony felt frozen at the moment. The cold rain had soaked him to the bone and the 40 mph winds didn't help one bit.

Tony wasn't sure how long the walk was as he had, embarrassingly, nodded off at one point. He'd woken up to the sound of buzzing and found himself inside a dry building as Loki carried him up a flight of stairs. They entered a room, which Tony guessed to be Loki's current hideout. The flat was large and well-furnished, making him suspect that they were located in the classier part of New York.

Loki propped his umbrella up against the door before taking off his soaked trench coat to hang it up on a nearby coat rack. Not once did he drop Tony, but merely switched the kitten between his hands as he shifted out of the dark fabric.

As they moved further into the flat, Tony was greeted to the sight of a decent sized living room with polished hardwood floors and warm cream painted walls. There was one long black leather sofa and a matching recliner set up in front of a moderately sized plasma TV sat on top of a medium sized dark wooden stand, oddly enough its shelves appeared to be filled with books rather than movies.

The living room lead into the kitchen, which was a wide open space filled with all the newest and up-to-date appliances. Dark wooden cabinets matched the floors and the countertops were made from granite that had a soft grey color. There was no dining table, but a breakfast bar countertop that came out of the wall which separated the kitchen and the living room, if only a little.

There was a hallway off to the side, no doubt leading to the bedroom and bathroom, but Loki steered them towards the breakfast bar instead. From the corner of his eye, Tony saw Loki wave his hand as he mumbled a few weird sounding words. Suddenly, a cage appeared on the counter. Tony shivered as he was brought towards it and renewed his pointless struggling. Besides the cage being small, there was no blanket inside, nothing there to soften the metal bars that made up the floor of the small pen. It looked horribly uncomfortable and it was all his.

Well wasn't that fucking fantastic.

The cage, unfortunately, brought back less than welcomed memories from his time in Afghanistan. In his earliest days of his imprisonment, when he still had that fucking car battery attached to his chest, his captors had to pick his punishments carefully. Anything involving water or electricity had been out of the question for either could accidently short circuit his crude system of life support.

His torso had also been sworn off from physical punishment to avoid speeding up the process of the shrapnel buried inside of his chest. His hands were obviously off-limits too as he needed them to build their weapons. With those options gone, the worst physical contact Tony usually got was the occasional backhand across the face for his mouth. Of course the Ten Rings, being the professional terrorists that they were, had a solution to the no-touchy rule already setup on base. The Furnace, as many of his captors had affectionately called it, was a Sweatbox and a very basic one at that.

Yinsen had called it a glimpse into hell.

It had been small, barely giving him enough room to sit in. His head had constantly brushed against the ceiling and his legs were always bent at awkward angles in order to fit. The Sweatbox had been made out of six metal slabs that had clearly been fused together by an amateur with a blowtorch. A small hole, about the size of a golf ball, had been cut into the bottom sheet for ventilation. When locked inside, the Furnace was almost completely dark save for the single hole that let in very little light. Tony had been forced to guess what the time was by how much the temperature progressively changed.

During the day the Furnace reached temperatures that he'd estimated to be about a hundred and twenty degrees, sometimes higher. The metal walls became so hot that any skin that touched them was burnt. The burns would then blister and eventually pop if you had the misfortune to touch them against a wall again, and considering the size of the Furnace, Tony did that quite a lot. At night the desert's cold was biting and just as unwelcomed as the day's heat, reaching temperatures in the mid-thirties and below. Tony had spent his nights shivering as he'd tried to warm himself up and keep his blood flowing. The metal walls that had absorbed the sun's heat so well had proven to be an excellent conductor for the night's cold.

Tony had tried his best to never fall asleep while he'd been locked in the Furnace, fearing that he wouldn't wake up again.

The guards made sure to bring him enough water so that he wouldn't die, but he was still left dangerously dehydrated. The bastards didn't even bring him cold water. It had always been hot and just a few degrees below boiling. He couldn't wait for the water to cool down; the heat inside the Furnace would have made the water evaporate too quickly. So in order to survive, Tony had forced himself to drink the almost boiling water and it had seared his throat and mouth, leaving him to stew in even more pain. Drinking and eating anything was so painful at times that he'd gone for days without nourishment. Yinsen would force him to eat after a certain point, doing his best to accommodate Tony by liquefying the food as much as possible and making it easier for him to swallow.

He would have died so many times if it hadn't been for Yinsen.

The longest they had ever left Tony in the Furnace was for four days, giving him bits of food and little water. Of course even that small amount of nourishment had been enough for his digestive system to work. He had been smart enough to make use of the hole in the Furnace to piss out of, but that didn't really help with problem number two. The smell of his waste burning from the sun's heat had been enough to make him retch, which of course had made his prison smell even worse. After that, he'd learnt his lesson and had made sure to be less of a smartass to his captors.

Tony was torn out of his unpleasant trip down memory lane as Loki tossed him into the cage hard enough for his injured side to hit the fucking bars with a resounding thump. There was nothing he could do to prepare himself for the latest bout of pain and Tony whimpered in response, sounding exactly like the pitiful creature Odin had turned him into.

" _Fuck you Odin. I hope you die in the most humiliating way and then burn in hell for all eternity._ " Tony groaned pathetically as he curled up into a ball. He heard Loki scoff, but he really couldn't bring himself to care at the moment.

He was tired, hungry, and bleeding. There were only two things he wanted right now, his humanity and a bottle of scotch to drink away the last few hours.

* * *

Loki looked down at his unexpected captive, his pleased smirk had somewhat dissipated, but every now and then he could feel the corners of his mouth twitch upward uncontrollably. He had of course planned to have his vengeance on the Avengers; it was just nice that for once, fate seemed to have favored him. And what a curious situation fate had brought about.

It had taken Loki a little over two months by Midgardian standards to make his escape. The binds the All-Father had placed on him were strong and kept most of his powers out of reach, bubbling furiously just beneath his skin and aching to be used. Fortunately, Loki hadn't needed his magic in order to use the Casket of Ancient Winters that everyone seemed to have forgotten about. Just thinking about his escape made the God of Mischief smile vindictively.

After Agent Romanoff's inspection he had set his plans into motion. The small amounts of magic he possessed were just enough to make a clone that would last for two months at the most and had then shielded himself from Heimdall's gaze. Of course, such actions had used up what little magic he had access to. From there Loki had stolen a ship and snuck away to where one of the secret paths was located, effectively hiding himself on Midgard.

The binds were regrettably still on him to this day. They were powerful and of Odin's making, invisible shackles made of nothing but magic. In the weeks following his newfound freedom, Loki had been forced to once again build up his magical reserves. It had only been recently that he'd begun to use this stored magic to chisel away at his bindings. The process was slow and provided little progress, but it was his only option at present.

It was pathetic and humiliating to being reduced to such a weakened state, forced to resort to novice spells, a mockery of the great sorcerer he'd once been.

Using his magic Loki had managed to setup a decent living, his illusions creating false Midgardian currency to pay for his current living quarters and needs. He'd picked this building as it was based some distance away from Stark Tower, the only known location of one of the Avengers. Loki had placed himself in the perfect position to spy on his enemy so that he would know when his escape had been discovered. And while Loki had planned to have his revenge on Thor and his allies, retribution wasn't his main concern at present. Disappearing was his first priority. Heimdall's all-seeing gaze wasn't the only pair of eyes Loki had to be wary of now.

The Chitauri would be after him as well.

Any spell he casted was just another beacon for the Other to find and use to trace back to him and Loki knew he was not strong enough to protect himself if the Chitauri should truly wish him dead. Not only did they overwhelm him in numbers, he knew they possessed powers that he couldn't even begin to fathom.

A soft meow interrupted his thoughts and he looked down at the creature that had made the noise. Loki narrowed his eyes at the former human who huddled in the corner of the cage and looked back at him with those oddly shaped eyes. They were brown and perfectly human looking, lacking the vertical slits Loki had come to see the Midgardian species possess.

He knew it was Odin who had cursed the mortal. The All-Father's magic still lingered on the human as it was a rather powerful enchantment. What had the mortal done to earn such an uncommon sentence from Odin? From a king who distrusted magic as much as his people?

Loki cast another spell, though this one affected his own person. It was a simple communication spell so that he would be able to understand the human turned beast. After all, what was the point in having a prisoner if one couldn't hear their pleas for mercy?

"I should have you know, Stark, that the All-Father rarely uses magic as a way of punishment. You must have done something truly treacherous to bring about this." Loki said as he studied his small captive.

" _Yeah, well I guess your dad isn't used to others telling him things he doesn't want to hear. At least now I can see where you got your crazy from._ " The mortal replied as he inspected his side, not really paying the God any attention.

"He is _**not**_ my father!" Loki shouted angrily, making Stark jump in surprise.

" _Wait– you can understand me?_ " Stark asked as he looked up and Loki simply nodded in response. " _Is that an Asgardian thing or a Loki thing?_ " He spared the man a disdainful sneer before answering.

"It is a spell Stark, a minor one that even the most simplistic fool could cast."

" _Huh, well it's good to know that at least someone will have the privilege to bask in my staggering intelligence. As for what I did, I simply told the All-Fucker how pathetic it was that he hadn't realized you'd escaped. Next thing I know, I'm alone in an alleyway, six inches tall and covered in fuzz._ " Stark rattled off with an unusual bitterness filling his tone as he insulted Odin's title.

"You actually affronted Odin to his person? And he let you live?" Loki asked in surprise as he raised a narrow eyebrow at the once human. "No being insults the All-Father and comes out of it still breathing."

" _I also laughed at his face and said that he had shitty parenting skills._ " Stark continued as he puffed up his chest in what Loki could only assume to be pride. He graced the mortal with an unimpressed look.

"If that is indeed the case, then Odin must have owed you a great debt, forcing him spare your miserable life." Loki mused as he furrowed his eyebrows in thought. "How you could have obtained such a debt though…"

" _Maybe it was because I saved yours' and Thor's lives?_ " Stark muttered and Loki jerked his head down in surprise, giving his full attention towards the mortal who seemed too caught up in his own words to notice. " _Of course, S.H.I.E.L.D. had unleashed a Nuclear Warhead on New York. That weapon would have eradicated everything for miles, including you and Thor. But I sent it through the portal instead, saving your lives while simultaneously destroying the Chitauri!_ " Stark said quickly, realization filling his tone.

Loki's knuckles turned white while he knotted his hands into fists as a terrible feeling of dread began to build in the back of his mind. No, he had not known what had become of the Chitauri, which just made everything worse. He had assumed that the Avengers had simply closed the portal, but if what Stark said was true and that they had managed to deal such a blow, then his head would be far more sought after than what Loki had originally feared.

They would come after him now for the sheer pleasure of hearing his screams.

" _You okay there Reindeer Games? You look like someone just shoved your helmet up your ass._ _Hey look, I know this might be a bad time for you, but you know, if you could make me my handsome human self again, I'd really appreciate it._ " It was silent for a few minutes as Loki stared at the wall, deeply lost in thought.

There was nothing he could do about the Chitauri now. He'd known they would be after them, Stark's revelation merely warned him that he needed to be more on guard. As for Stark himself, an Avenger, a hostage, a source of information… a prisoner. Loki's thoughts mapped out into numerous routes, each unpleasant for the mortal and ranging from reaping rewards to simply taking his revenge.

"No Stark, I don't think I will. If what you say is true, then you are the one responsible for my failure to conquer Midgard. No, I want you to suffer and I know that retuning you to your normal state would be doing the opposite." Loki said as he stood up and walked towards the hallway. He glanced backwards and smirked sinisterly at his little captive. "I promise you this mortal, your punishment has only just begun."

And with that ominous threat hanging in the air, Loki shut off the lights, leaving Stark to stare after him in the dark.

* * *

Bruce sighed as he rubbed at his tired eyes, because boy, did Tony get himself into a lot of trouble this time. Bruce liked to think that he had an open mind, and considering he was able to turn into a giant green rage monster, he used to think that nothing could surprise him anymore.

True the Tesseract and the fact that Norse Gods actually existed as aliens was unexpected, but it hadn't surprised Bruce as much as it should have. This though, the idea that Tony was _actually a cat_ , was simply too mind-boggling of a concept for him to accept at face value.

After Thor had finished his explanation on what happened to Tony, Pepper had promptly fainted, a first Jarvis had assured them. Bruce had set her up on the couch, waiting nearby in case something else happened to his favorite redhead. In the three months he'd lived in Stark Tower, Tony had become his best friend and Pepper was quickly becoming a close second. They had both accepted him into their home and treated him like a person, not like a bomb just waiting to go off and most certainly not like a monster.

The other Avengers were still shaky around him. Clint and Natasha acted calm often enough, but he noticed the subtle ways their stances would change whenever he displayed a sign of irritation. An aggravated sigh, a nervous twitch, the slightest tone of annoyance in his voice whenever Tony got on his last nerves, any of these actions were taken as a possible threat by the two assassins.

He could understand why of course. Natasha had seen him on one of his worst days. She'd been afraid of him in Calcutta; he couldn't imagine how she felt towards him after the Helicarrier incident. And it was no secret that Clint and Natasha were a packaged deal, it was rare to see one without the other. Bruce had no doubts that Clint had come to fear him through Natasha's own trepidation.

Steve seemed to walk on eggshells whenever Bruce was in the room. The man sugar-coated everything, and treated him like a child on the verge of a temper tantrum. As much as he liked Steve, and even though he understood the reasons, Bruce couldn't help but feel some irritation towards the super soldier.

Thor was… well the God of Thunder didn't seem to really care at all about the Other Guy. While Thor's indifference was refreshing and welcomed, the God had mostly been on Asgard since the Invasion, only coming to Earth to pick up another Avenger or to see Jane Foster. The God had proven that he could hold his own in a fight against the Other Guy though, so Bruce guessed that was why Thor wasn't afraid of him.

Tony was the only Avenger who was never worried, who never treated Bruce anything other than a friend, even when he _was_ the Other Guy. It was nice to know that at least one person would always have his back, but that was the problem wasn't it? Tony was the one who needed help right now. Their teammate was lost somewhere out there, probably confused at how he had suddenly become a cat and Bruce wanted to help, but how was he supposed to find one stray feline in a city as large as New York?

Once they found Tony, how were they supposed to change him back to normal? Thor had made it clear that he'd pleaded with Odin to change Tony back. Clearly the All-Father felt that he was in the right. Bruce clenched in his teeth and focused on his breathing, he couldn't allow himself to think about Odin or about what he'd done to Tony. He might actually turn into the Other Guy if he did. It had been a long time since Bruce had felt this angry towards someone.

"We need to tell Fury." Steve said a few moments after Thor had finished his story and Bruce could almost imagine all the insults Tony would have said in response. The deafening silence following Steve's statement was too tense, too uncomfortable.

It may have just been him, but the team didn't feel like a team at the moment.

Despite his abrasive attitude, Tony was the one who broke the ice, who put everyone at ease around each other. As Natasha sent him another measuring glance, Bruce began to think that he had underestimated Tony's importance on the team. Maybe it wasn't that Tony calmed everyone down, but that he forcefully shifted all attention onto himself. Bruce also knew that the Other Guy had a soft spot for the man. Without Tony there to run interference, the others seemed to be even more on edge around him, like he'd suddenly turned into a tamed wolf that had lost its handler and was now reverting back to its primal instincts.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. should be able to help find Stark. They have eyes all over the place." Steve continued, bringing Bruce out of his thoughts. Natasha and Clint unsurprisingly nodded their heads in agreement. "We also have to start searching for Loki, immediately."

"Let's just hope that Fury doesn't consider finding him to be our first priority. I don't care what Loki might be planning at the moment, Tony comes first." Bruce said firmly as he ignored the nervous shifting the others made or the way that Natasha discreetly reached for her gun. ' _I miss you already Tony._ ' He thought gloomily and he could feel the Other Guy agree with him in the back of his mind.

"Indeed my friend, finding the Man of Iron should be our main concern." Thor added as he nodded his head, oblivious to the tension that plagued the other Avengers. Bruce sent Thor a grateful smile which the God returned slightly. He suspected that Thor felt guilty for what had happened to Tony, which was understandable. Bruce was sure he'd feel the same way if he was in Thor's position.

"Of course Stark comes first Bruce." Steve agreed delicately and Bruce was slightly bothered by the fact that Tony was still addressed as Stark by Steve. He knew there was bad blood between the two men; he also knew that the issue ran deeper than that for Tony.

Pepper slowly started to wake and as Bruce made his way towards her, he just hoped that Tony was safe, wherever he was.

* * *

Tony was nestled in the corner of his cage that Loki, the creepy sadistic bastard, had been so accommodating to make. With nothing to distract him, the pain from the cuts in his side seemed to get worse with every passing moment. Eventually he did the only thing that would help, even if the action disgusted him to no end. Tony was reduced to literally licking his wounds. The saliva seeped into his cuts and cleaned the blood from his slightly matted fur. The logical part of his brain continuously pointed out the fact that saliva carried enzymes which fought off bacteria. So even though it was gross as hell and stung like a bitch, Tony continued to disinfect his wounds as best he could.

After an hour, his new ears picked up the sound of Loki's soft snoring and he moved to examine the latch to his cage. He really, really needed to find a way out of Loki's clutches and get back to his tower. He didn't want to go through torture again, three months with the Ten Rings was enough to last a lifetime.

The latch on the cage was one those pinch locks which was going to be difficult to use seeing as his paws lacked the thumbs needed to operate them, that didn't stop the billionaire genius from trying though. Two unsuccessful hours later, Tony finally stopped after getting his right paw stuck in the latch for twenty minutes. Accepting defeat for the moment, he went back to his corner and curled up into a ball, his side aching slightly but it was no longer bleeding.

Tony waited for sleep to come as boredom set in. He usually never had to wait to fall asleep as he often worked himself into exhaustion. Insomnia was a real pain in the ass, but one Tony had been unable to get rid ever since his stint in Afghanistan. And really, even before that he'd always had trouble sleeping. It was hard to shut his brain down.

Still, his sleepless nights weren't all that bad most of the time, as he'd had his lab to turn to in those long hours of restlessness. Some of his best ideas had come from those times where he'd gone without sleeping the day or two before. Besides, Pepper had always made sure to get him into bed when he'd finally started to crash.

Oh, Pepper.

Tony wondered if Thor had told the others what had happened to him yet. Bruce would of course tell Pepper, who would promptly freak-out and probably swear that she'd kick Odin's ass for what he'd done, then she'd promise to kick _his_ _ass_ for instigating the God in the first place. On second thought, maybe it was a good thing he wasn't with Pepper at the moment. It was usually best to let her cool down for a day or two before letting her claws sink into him.

The sounds of groaning and shifting bed sheets caught his attention and he turned to the direction of Loki's room, ears perking as he listened carefully. A nightmare, Tony figured from the way that Loki's groans steadily grew louder. There was a mumbled sentence: "I could have done it father" and repeated shouts of "tell me" or "why". The yells steadily got louder, to the point that if felt like Loki was screaming those words into his ears.

It was disturbing. Loki sounded as if his world had just been torn out from under him. It was surreal, it was pathetic and yet somehow, it made Tony's stomach ache awkwardly with a feeling he couldn't describe. His teeth gnashed into each other and he buried his paws into his ears, trying and failing to block out Loki's suffering. The bad guy should _**never**_ get to sound like that. Loki should never sound like he had been so deeply hurt, so betrayed– _Obie was ginning down at him, the Arc Reactor in his hands._

Loki knew nothing of betrayal.

" _LOKI,_ _SHUT THE HELL UP_ _! Other people are trying to sleep and your_ _crying out for daddy_ _is keeping me awake!_ " Tony shouted suddenly, not really caring for the fact that Loki was susceptible to nightmares like everyone else. His breathing came in pants and his anger almost instantly left, leaving Tony to feel numb. Loki shouldn't sound like that; he didn't have the right to.

The room became silent so quickly that Tony felt a shiver run down his spine at the eeriness of it all.

… _Uh-oh_ …

The sound of footsteps moving swiftly down the hallway was enough to put him on the alert. Loki had promised him punishment and the God just might be in a cranky enough mood to start tormenting him now. Sure enough, Tony spotted Loki's lithe form slip into the room, his enhanced vision picking up every crinkle in the God's dark green pajamas pants. Loki's bare torso was covered with sweat, letting him know that the nightmare had been a really bad one, which didn't bode well for him at all.

The look on Loki's face was murderous.

' _Mental note to self, never wake Rock of Ages from a nightmare by insulting him._ ' Without saying a word Loki grabbed his cage, shaking it and tossing Tony's small form about as he moved toward one of the windows in the kitchen. The Asgardian opened it, revealing an empty flowerbed attached to the brick building. The flowerbed fixing was only a few inches deep, its' width only slightly larger than the cage.

The rain from earlier hadn't let up at all and the wind seemed to be blowing even fiercer than before. Loki grabbed his cage and set it in the small flowerbed that already had gathered two inches of water inside of it, soaking his dried fur within seconds. Against his will, Tony let out a hiss of discomfort and instantly stood on two legs as his forelegs pawed at the opening of the cage.

"Perhaps you will find better sleep out here, Stark." Loki snapped before he slammed the window shut and left a stunned Tony out in the rain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot of Pepper and Tony being broken up at the moment is mainly there so that I can have different scenarios at later points in the story. They could get back together or they could not. They could struggle a lot, trying to be together, but be stuck in an on-again off-again relationship. I could set Pepper up to fall for Bruce or even kill her off in the future. I honestly have no set plans for their relationship so give me some suggestions on what you'd like to see and we'll go from there.
> 
> Also, I'm not sure how well I did with Loki being his evil, yet suave self. I like the few feelings the he'd showed and leaving a kitten Tony out in the rain is positively heartless, but I'm not sure if I accurately nailed Loki's character down in this chapter.
> 
> On a side note, does anyone know what happened to the Casket of Ancient Winters? I certainly don't and I don't remember it being explained at all in any of the movies. I'm glad I got to use it to help Loki escape from prison. His "secret pathway" to Earth was also taken from Thor: The Dark World.
> 
> –Hexalys


	3. Lost Identity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic is not going to be a FrostIron pairing. I've never written a slash story before and I have no doubt that I'd be horrible at it if I tried. I figure it's best to play to my strengths and there are already plenty of FrostIron stories out there in the fandom. Pepper and Tony not being together at the moment wasn't a plot so that Tony could hook up with Loki, but mainly there so I can focus on more of Tony struggles.
> 
> I like Pepperony fine, it's just I like writing about playboy Tony more. Plus, it adds a different scenario to the story. In most fics I've read, Tony and Pepper are either together or they aren't, in this it can go either way. Make no mistake though; Pepper and Tony still care about each other very much, even if they aren’t romantically involved anymore.

Loki woke to the sounds of his own frantic breathlessness. The nightmares had not deserted him after Stark had awoken him last night. He clenched his jaw and tried to banish his dream from the surface of his mind. Nightmares were an unusual thing for Loki; he'd long since trained his mind and magic to filter out such weaknesses. With most of his magic still bound however, it seemed he was susceptible to them once more.

How long had it been since his last nightmare? Surely more than a few centuries of that Loki knew for certain.

His last nightmare, which he'd long since forgotten the images of, had truly terrified him. Unfortunately, Thor had heard his screaming that night and had questioned him about it loud enough for the entire banquet hall to hear the next morning. It didn't take much for others more intelligent than Thor to put the pieces together.

Fandral and Volstagg had found his situation to be quite humorous, a running gag to amuse themselves with in order to pass the time. Hogun had been silent as ever, saying only once that a true warrior of Asgard would never let himself be weakened by such an illusion. Sif had been particularly malicious in her mockery of him and his nightmares. When he’d gone to Thor for understanding the oaf had just smiled and laughed into his mead, saying that he was simply far too sensitive for his own good.

Embarrassed and angry, Loki had sought his revenge by making the others suffer a season full of nightmarish sleep. He had not been caught or punished, as they had been too ashamed to admit that they were being troubled in such away. The Warriors Three, Sif, and Thor had learned never to mock his nightmares again. Still, it was a weakness Loki had refused to be burdened with any longer after that.

He had cast a somewhat powerful enchantment that blocked the nightmares; the only drawback was that it also stopped him from having pleasant dreams as well. It was a sacrifice that he hadn't foreseen, but one he'd easily dealt with. What purpose did such frivolous illusions hold for him anyways?

Loki brushed a shaking hand through his sweat dampened hair, growling at the feebleness Odin had forced upon him. Making him relive the moments in his life where his world had come crashing down, when he'd learned of his true origins and of Odin's purpose for him.

“ ** _I_ _thought we could unite our kingdoms one day. Bring about an alliance; bring about a permanent peace – through you._** ”

A pawn in a king's game, a tool to be used, a means to an end.

“ ** _But those plans no longer matter…_** ”

He was never meant to claim the throne, not the one of Asgard anyways. What had Odin's plan been? To raise him as a God and then tell him of his true nature, a monster detested by Asgard and its people? Had Odin expected him to take the throne of Jotunheim, even when King Laufey had already sentenced his runt of an heir to death? Loki shook his head fiercely, ridding himself of unwanted, pointless thoughts.

What's past is past and Odin would yet suffer for his past transgressions.

Loki pulled himself out of his ruffled bed, taking a moment to let his perspired skin bask in the rooms' cool temperatures. His mind wandered to last night, to the mortal turned animal by Odin's own hand. It had been very foolish of Stark to insult the All-Father, he was lucky to have escaped with only this new form as his punishment. Of course the mortal had poorly learned from the lesson Odin had tried to impose on him, namely holding ones’ tongue in front of your betters. Admittedly, it was a harsh lesson, one that had taken Loki centuries to master.

Yet the only reason for why Odin had spared Stark was because he'd saved Thor's life, as well as his own, though Loki rather believed that the latter had been an act of necessity, not of righteousness. Stark only did what he had to in order to protect Midgard; any other results were just unintentional outcomes. Still, Stark's act of sacrifice was an action that Odin could not dismiss, a debt that could not be ignored. It made Loki curious of what else he might be ignorant to. Perhaps he should find out more as to what happened at the end of the battle for Midgard.

With that decision made, he left his room and made his way towards the kitchen window. He spotted the small trembling form of his captive and paused as he mused over how pathetic of a creature Iron Man had become.

From his brief encounter with the mortal, Loki knew that Stark was not submissive in the slightest. He was a proud Midgardian who had an ego that could rival Thor’s in some ways and outmatch him in many others. Stark was a mortal who refused to look like the weaker man, going so far as to risking his life merely to have the last word. Foolish, extremely so, but it was a quality that Loki could appreciate. Stark let no one silence him. He was not one to “ ** _know his place_** ” and such a simple characteristic angered Loki greatly.

No mortal had such a right to be so unyielding. Yet Stark had proven in the past that he was not one to be categorized as a simple mortal.

In his time on Midgard Loki had collected as much information on the Avengers that he could. While Agent Barton had been under his control, he'd taken advantage of the archer’s knowledge. The man had had plenty of information on S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Romanoff in particular, but rather basic information when it came to the other warriors of Earth. The Captain hadn’t worried Loki; the mortal’s enhanced strength and durability had meant little when compared to a God. The Hulk, Barton had claimed to be dangerous, an uncontrollable rage monster that could not be taken down. So Loki had decided to redirect the beast’s ire. S.H.I.E.L.D. had set themselves up for that fall all on their own when Barton had told him about their little cage.

Then there had been Iron Man. The warrior he’d been the least concerned with because Barton had made a flippant remark about the man, treating him more as a pest than anything else. _“He’s just a rich boy in a metal suit. Not really team player. He’s got a nice tower in New York though.”_ Loki now wondered if Barton had said that on purpose to mislead him. Despite the Tesseract taking his mind, the Hawk had been able to keep Fury alive when he’d instructed otherwise. And Selvig had created a way to close the portal without his knowing.

As pained as Loki was to admit, Stark had proven to be a dangerous enemy to underestimate. He’d seen the mortal fight Thor, withstanding a strike of lightning as if it were nothing. He’d witnessed the man during the invasion, killing more Chitauri than any other Avenger for he was the most prepared to deal with numerous enemies.

Loki had sought to rectify his mistake as soon as he’d arrived on Midgard. Fortunately, Stark was the easiest to get information about as he was the most public out of the Avengers. Personality wise, he was an arrogant man, one who loved to flaunt his achievements and to hear his praises from others. But what Loki had gleaned was just the barest of information that was known by most.

Stark had proven to be a genius from a very early age. His father, Howard Stark, had built an empire in creating weapons, as well as advancing many other areas of technology. Stark's parents had died in a car accident while he'd still been rather young and had later taken over his father's empire a few years later. He continued his father's work in creating weapons and gained a reputation as the world's leading expert when it came to engineering. For the next two decades Stark fell into a pattern of momentary brilliance that was constantly followed by tomfoolery. Awards were presented, public stunts were pulled, and Stark had seemed to be very content with that existence.

Then the mortal was held captive for three months.

There was little known about what happened to Stark while being held hostage in Afghanistan, only that he'd escaped on his own. Not too long after, Iron Man made his first appearance as he fought against a much larger opponent that Stark had named War Monger, whom was killed in battle. “ _A suit gone wrong_ ” Stark had proclaimed to the media, a remnant from his entrapment, nothing more.

The next day, Stark had announced to the world that he was Iron Man.

Six months later the government tried to gain ownership over Stark's creation, claiming it to be too powerful of a weapon for one man to handle. Not even a few days later, a mortal named Ivan Vanko, attacked Stark in public, displaying the use of technology that Stark had claimed only he could create. Vanko was swiftly defeated by Iron Man and then sent to prison where he was freed in secrecy by another mortal named Justin Hammer, the owner of a weapons company that had failed to mimic Stark's suit.

At the Stark Expo of last year, Vanko attacked Stark once again. The mortal used a regiment of automatons that were similar to Stark's suit and unleashed them upon the populated gathering. Despite being heavily outnumbered, Stark had defeated Vanko once again, deciding to finish off the mortal, permanently. There were Stark’s latest exploits as well. Loki bitterly admitted that Iron Man had been a rather powerful foe to deal with. The mortal’s suit was well equipped to handle numerous enemies at once. And now he knew that Stark had done even more, the man had essentially defeated an entire Chitauri fleet singlehandedly.

While to some that information may seem like a quite a lot, to Loki, he knew he was woefully ignorant when it came to Anthony Stark, the Man of Iron. He knew there was so much more to the mortal than what was reported to the public and his crippled pride demanded he learn all there was to know. He could not afford to underestimate his enemies again.

He would find out Stark's deepest secrets, of his greatest fears and nightmares. He would relish every cry for mercy that bled from the mortal's mouth as he used those secrets, those weakness, to tear Stark apart piece by piece. And he would enjoy every moment of the arrogant man’s agony.

* * *

The rain had been cold and the wind had been harsh and unforgiving as it battered against Tony's small body throughout the night. There had been no shelter from the storm, not from where he sat while cowering against the elements. There had been some dirt though that had escape his notice until he’d felt the clumps of mud congeal into his fur. But it was morning now and thankfully the storm had finally blown over.

The flowerbed he was trapped in was still filled with dirty water that just reaching his Arc Reactor, which was partly covered in mud. The constant sting in his side reminded Tony that the filthiness of his current environment did nothing to help sterilize his Ratzilla wounds.

Though the sun was steadily rising over New York, Tony couldn't see it due to where the flowerbed was located. The only thing he could see were the dark bricks of the neighboring building in front of him and the dark clouds growing overhead. Who’d thought it would be a bright idea to have a flowerbed hanging over an alleyway anyways? It's not like anybody could see it, really the whole thing was just pointless. Hell, Loki had probably magic'd it there for the sole purpose of leaving him out in the rain.

Tony shivered. He was cold… no, scratch that shit, he fucking freezing!

The last time he'd been this cold was when he'd gone through that damn portal, carrying that double-damned nuke. He’d passed through the portal with a warhead on his back, very much aware of the statistics that said he wasn’t going to survive long enough to hightail it back to Earth. But for a second, even with the Chitauri fleets filling his vision, outer space had looked so eerily beautiful. It had really been a once in a lifetime kind of sight.

Then the cold had set in.

The sudden drastic change in pressure between Earth's atmosphere and space immediately took effect; crushing his suit with him still inside it, killing the power almost instantly. His suit wasn’t made for space. And the air, well there hadn't been any.

Tony had experienced what it was like to asphyxiate before. Thanks to the Ten Rings and then when Obie ( _Stane, dammit_ ) had removed his Arc Reactor, Tony thought he knew what it felt like to have his lungs empty, to not be able to draw in another breath, but space had shown him that he had no idea what it was like to truly suffocate. Even during those times of asphyxiation, he'd been able to get in a little air. Even if it wasn't enough, there had still been something to breathe in. But there had been _nothing_ in space, even gagging had been impossible. He just stopped. It had taken him by surprise so fast that he hadn't even realized when his lungs had stopped working.

And as horrible as suffocating had been, it had nothing on the cold.

It had felt as if ice was replacing the blood in his veins, turning it into slush and destroying him from the inside out. It was as if someone had just injected him with gallons of palladium, that poisonous silver chemical burning him all the way to his core. If there had been any oxygen, Tony was sure that the cold alone would have made him stop breathing.

Tony pushed the memory away too late, realizing his mistake as he felt his breathing suddenly start to thin. Anxiety attacks Jarvis called them, which was complete bullshit. ‘ _Think about something else, think about Pepper, about equations– Is the water level rising?_ ’ He tried to do what Jarvis had instructed in the past, to take deep breaths, but his lungs burned and he felt like there wasn’t enough air. Which was stupid because he was outside, how much more air did he need?

Slowly, his heart finally calmed down after what felt like hours, breaths heavy but thankfully deep. Then Tony felt shame take over, replacing his disappearing panic. He was Iron Man, how could he lose his shit like that just because of a bad experience with his first trip into outer space? Against his will Tony shuddered from both his memories and the cold that was currently biting into his fragile body. He'd reached a sort of numbness in the middle of the night that had left him unaffected by the dropping temperature, but the water's coolness was beginning to feel fresh against his body and renewed the frigidness he'd been oblivious to for the last few hours.

Tony had silently admitted to himself halfway through the night that he'd been very stupid to wake Loki the way that he had, but he'd just felt so bitter and justified at the time. What right did Loki have to sound hurt? To sound like _he'd_ been the innocent victim and that someone else had been the bad guy? Now though, Tony had the vaguest impression that he'd been in the wrong last night… until Loki had stuck him outside in the rain that is.

Fucking asshole was just as vindictive as Odin. God, he didn’t know who he hated more! ‘ _Let’s see, Reindeer Games tried to enslave me at first, but the All-Fucker turned me into a cat. Rock of Ages then threw me out of a window from my own tower, but Patchy turned me into a cat. So basically that means that they both fucking suck!_ ’

Tony was suddenly torn out of his inner curse filled thoughts by the sound of the window being opened from behind him. He turned to see Loki looking down at him with the haughtiest expression he’d ever seen, which really was saying something considering who he was. Tony had to deal with the most pompous people the world had to offer on a daily basis. It made him want to fire a repulsor blast right into the God's opening mouth. ‘ _Silvertongue, meet the Unibeam._ ’ The grisly image his mind created from that scenario brought a smile to his face. Tony decided to try it out the instant he became human and had his suit with him.

"Have we learned our lesson, Stark?" Loki asked speaking to Tony as if he really were a kitten. He held back an angry growl, knowing that it wouldn't earn him any brownie points at the moment. Still, that didn’t mean he was going to be sucking up to Loki anytime soon… or ever really.

" _Yeah, never to wake your happy ass up again._ " He answered bitterly. He saw Loki raise an eyebrow and noticed the God moving to shut the window again. " _Because it was stupid, but hey, I'm only human. Nobody walks on water._ " Tony continued through gritted teeth. He could try to play nice at the moment, especially since he was pretty sure he could hear thunder brewing in the distance.

Loki raised the other brow, his smirk returning with a vengeance and Tony almost made a wise-ass comment about how Loki lost to a group of humans, but decided against it. He really needed to get warm, to get clean. He was pretty sure another day out in the rain would mean the end for his new furry body.

"But Stark, you are far from human at the moment." Loki taunted and then started to chuckle at Tony's sad attempt at a threatening growl. "Now Stark, do you wish to come inside or is the next downpour needed to cool your head a little more?"

Tony glared up at Loki, seriously considering his options for a few moments before he mentally sighed and lowered his head in submission. It was not the first time he'd been forced to push aside his ego because of the threat of punishment hanging over his head. ' _Fucking terrorists and there fucking interrogation skills_.' Loki, thankfully, took the gesture for what it was, because there was no way Tony was going to actually ask to come inside. He could swallow his pride when needed, but asking him to chew it up and then spit on it was something he simply could not do.

He would sooner die before being forced to sink that low.

Loki grabbed the top of his cage, holding it in the air for a moment to let the clinging water drip down into the alleyway below. It was a very disconcerting view for Tony, who was a lot further off the ground then he'd originally thought. If Loki wanted to, he could kill him just by letting the cage go. As if reading his thoughts, Loki jerked the cage down suddenly and Tony instinctively felt his claws wrap around the thin metal wire of his cage as a startled shout ripped through his throat.

Reindeer Games laughed again. The God's sick enjoyment was so palpable that Tony felt as if Loki's taunting chuckles were searing at his insides. ' _Oh hello there humiliation, it's been a while, yep I haven't seen you since the last time I was held prisoner_.' Fortunately, Loki didn't leave him dangling there for long. He was soon brought into the blessedly dry apartment and he relished the wind-free air and warmer temperature. Loki made a tsking noise with his tongue.

"Anthony, you're completely covered in filth." The God stated patronizing tone, adding more fuel to the fire that was Tony's hatred for the man. He hated being patronized, _a lot_ , but he hated being called Anthony even more.

His friends called him Tony and the public called him Tony Stark. His business associates and the government called him as Mr. Stark. His enemies and the media called him Iron Man. Fury, Rogers, Agent Romanoff, and a few others, simply called him Stark. Then there was Thor, who called him the Man of Iron, which he really should have corrected at some point, but Tony found it funny how Thor messed up the name slightly, giving it more a Shakespearian feel.

Only Howard had ever called him Anthony. It was his old man's way of showing how distant they were. Whenever people where around, he was called Tony, but when they were home and out of the spotlight, he was Anthony once more. And seriously, what kind of dad does that to his kid? It was disassociation at its fullest.

So Tony didn't bother to point out that Loki could address him as anything else. Asshole would have been much more preferable than Anthony at this point, knowing it wouldn’t do him any good. Hell, the God would probably call him that just to piss him off. Besides, Loki calling him that undesirable name just gave him more of an incentive to hate the God of Mischief.

Tony was brought out his thoughts as Loki's hand suddenly grabbed the fur on the back of his neck and lifted him out of the cage. Okay, this was starting to get really old, really fast. What was this, the third time Loki had held him by his neck? Tony didn't struggle and not because he'd decided to play nice, but because he was simply too damn exhausted to put up a fight. Obviously, besides his little nap before getting caught by Loki and the one he'd had on the way here, he hadn't gotten much sleep last night.

He was taken down the hallway to be met with two closed doors. Loki took him through the closer one, which actually turned out to be a bathroom. The color theme of the kitchen countertops continued into the room, the tiled floor was the same granite grey as was the sink's countertop. The countertop itself was attached to a large dark wooden cabinet, leading Tony to guess that it held the towels and other toiletries.

There was no tub, only a large, tiled walk-in shower that had a fogged glassed door instead of a shower curtain. The walls were cream, matching the porcelain toilet and sink in color, with two dark green bathroom mats on the floor, one in front of the shower and the other in front of the sink. On the wall, directly over the sink, hung a large oval shaped mirror that was boarded with a very detailed wooden molding.

Tony’s observations were cut short as Loki dropped him none too gently into the sink. Realizing what was about to happen, he frantically tried to pull himself out of the faucets line of fire, only to wind up sliding back into the center. The problem wasn’t how deep the sink was as deep, and it was deep, the problem was its slippery surface. His oversized paws just couldn’t seem to get any traction against the porcelain. As he slid down again, Tony decided that he hated Odin the most at the moment.

* * *

Loki dropped Stark into the large sink uncaringly before he ducked down to grab a washcloth and a bottle of shampoo from the cabinet. He returned to find Stark pathetically trying to climb out of the oval shaped sink without much success. The mild hisses, huffs, and curses were enough to let him know that Stark knew what was about to happen and was none too happy about it. While waiting for Stark to realize that his attempts were pointless, Loki took this chance to get a better look at the human turned feline as he hadn't paid much attention to detail last night.

Most of Stark's fur was dark brown, matching the former human's hair color. The tips of his paws, save for his front right one, were white as were the ridges of his ears. His muzzle was also white, looking disturbing like the mortal’s ridiculous facial hair, which lead into a light pink nose. The area surrounding the glowing machine in his chest was white as well. The machine, Loki eyed the illuminating mechanism with hidden fascination. It was that which must have stopped him from controlling Stark's mind some months ago.

Loki could still recall feeling baffled as his staff had hit something other than skin, narrowing his eyes in confusion as he saw something just under the mortal’s shirt. Barton had certainly not told him about that. He had tried again, a sharp _ting_ echoing around them. Nothing, Stark had smirked. He’d spoken to himself out loud, not understanding why it didn’t work when the Other had assured him no mortal would be able to resist. Then Stark had responded with a vulgar quip: performance issues. Indeed. Loki had taken great pleasure in silencing the mortal that always seemed to have a response.

His hand brushed over the device, and Stark tensed. The blue glow from it was unlike anything Loki had seen from other Midgardian machines. In fact, it almost reminded him of the – but no, that was impossible.

In size, Stark was a very small creature compared to others of his kind that Loki had seen. Odin had not only changed Stark into an animal, he'd turned the mortal into a youngling at that, his body barely old enough to have mastered the skill to run without tripping. Truly the All-Father had meant to insult Stark's pride as much as possible.

He turned on the water, surprised that the mortal had kept silent for so long and adjusted the temperature to lukewarm. Loki placed Stark under the streaming faucet, washing off most of the mud from the fur before blocking the drain. As the warm water began to fill the sink, Loki started to take notice of Stark's drooping eyelids and the way that his head would tilt slightly before jerking back up.

He smiled. It seemed Stark hadn't found better sleep outside after all.

Loki poured a small dab of soap into his hands and then lathered them into Stark's fur, getting rid of the more stubborn clumps of dirt. He worked in silence for several minutes, his mind becoming calm and wondrously blank as he busied himself with the distracting task. Then he heard it, the foreign noise was quiet at first, but as time passed, it soon overpowered the sound of the running water.

Purring.

Loki almost strangled the small creature in his hands right there. ‘ _How dare Stark get any sort of enjoyment out of this!_ ’ Just as quickly as the rage had come, it left, simmering lowly in the back of his mind as an unexpected idea suddenly came forth. He chuckled slightly before he spoke.

"I had no idea how affectionate you could be, Anthony." The words slipped off his silver-tongue with ease, sounding innocent enough to most, though there was an underlining tone to his words that was quite the opposite. Loki felt Stark stiffen under his hands as the purring ceased immediately and he almost laughed again at the horrified look the mortal had somehow managed to convey. His hands brushed over a particularly dirty patch of fur and Loki was pleasantly surprised at the loud cry of pain the action produced. He looked closer and found that Stark had three, somewhat deep, cuts in his side that had started to bleed. He washed over the wound again, causing Stark to start struggling wildly in his grasp.

" _Shit,that hurts! Let me go you crazy son of a bitch!_ " Tony shouted as he tried to get out of Loki's tight grip. The purring had been bad enough, because seriously, he was a person and _people didn't_ _fucking purr_ _!_ Now though, the soap burned as it got into his wound, stinging just as badly as any alcohol swab could.

And he was so fucking tired of being nothing more than a passing amusement for Loki.

"Now really Anthony, must you make such a mess? You're splashing water everywhere. Do I have to put you outside again after this?" Loki said as he lifted him out of the water altogether, holding Tony up at eye level and smiling as he sputtered angrily.

" _Screw you Loki, I'm not your fucking pet! I'm one of the Avengers who beat your sorry ass. I’m Iron Man and I'm my own damn person!_ " Tony growled as his ears pulled back slightly.

For a second he saw Loki's eyes narrow in anger, he saw the God's mouth twist into a silent snarl. He felt the God's grip tighten dangerously, saw his shoulders tense and pulled back slightly, making him look even more intimidating. And for a second, Tony truly thought for sure that he was about to get a very painful beating. But then all the hostility vanished and a look of bemusement rearranged onto Loki's face as his body relaxed once more. In Tony’s opinion, this collected Loki was a whole lot worse than a pissed off one.

"I see no person before me." Loki replied simply as he turned Tony around to stare at his reflection. A small, wet, dark haired kitten looked back at him. His overly large ears that had flattened in anger now drooped with shock and understanding. Oh God, he really was a cat. Somehow, the reality of the situation hadn't really sunk in until now.

He was small, weak, and definitely not human. If it weren't for the Arc Reactor glowing in his chest, Tony was sure he'd vehemently deny the image before him. He would never have admitted that the damp creature before his eyes was now who he was. He would have never believed that this frozen kitten, with its ridiculously small body and big brown eyes, visibly trapped in Loki’s clutches, was the hero Iron Man.

How could this possibly be him?

"You see Anthony, you are not a person, you are not Iron Man, and you are not even Tony Stark anymore." Loki said as he placed the stunned mortal on the countertop, inwardly grinning at the mental anguish his captive was surly experiencing. He used the washcloth as a towel, drying Stark's fur somewhat, and was greatly pleased that he heard no purring this time.

He put the used cloth on the counter, studying Stark as the mortal continued to stare at his new reflection, seemingly unable to come to terms with his current state. Another cruel idea came to Loki and his smile was all teeth and feral in every way.

With a murmur of magic filled words, a dark green collar appeared out of the air, falling into his awaiting hands. On it was the name ‘ _Anthony_ ’ stitched in gold threads, and he held it out for the mortal to see through the mirrors reflection. There was no reaction, well no physical one anyways, besides the widening of the mortal's eyes as the collar snapped into place around his small neck.

"A pet is exactly what you are, Anthony."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, okay that took longer than I expected. The chapter itself isn't that long (about 5,300 words), making it my shortest chapter so far. It just took me forever to write it out because my mind was drawing complete blanks for what I wanted Loki to say. In the end though, I'm really happy with how this chapter ended.
> 
> Side note, the anxiety attacks come from Iron Man 3, so it’s totally cannon. If you’ve seen the movie then you know how traumatized Tony was after the events in New York so I obviously have to hit them here. As I’ve said before, this is clearly AU, but I like to make it follow the movies as closely as I can while adding my own flair to the story. Does that mean A.I.M., the Mandarin, or Killian will make an appearance in this story later on? Most certainly not, that stuff is in the sequel.
> 
> As I have many ideas and events that I'm going to employ in the future, I'm curious to know if there's a situation any of you want to see specifically. I'll try to see if I can add it in at a later point, but please keep in mind that this story has no slash.
> 
> –Hexalys


	4. Cat Scratch Fever

Tony was back in his cage, his body stiff and aching as his mind finally started to reboot. He would never admit it, but Loki had really gotten to him. The God had managed to get under his skin, get into his head, and had then ruthlessly shoved his lost humanity down his fucking throat. And what did he do in response? He’d just sat there and took it, not even able to muster up of some half-ass retort. Because really, what could he say besides restating who he was? He _had been_ Tony Stark, he _used to be_ Iron Man, but right now he’sAnthony, a helpless kitten caught in Loki’s grasp.

Or least that was what he had thought for the first few stunned minutes.

Now though, he was back in his cage, his brain was starting to work again, and the first thought that entered Tony’s mind was, ‘ _When I’m back to normal, I’m going to rip off this fucking collar and shove it up your ass, Loki!_ ’ A few of his thoughts were directed towards figuring out how he was going to get back to normal, but most of his brain was occupied with illustrating the mental images of Iron Man beating the ever living shit out of his captor.

His imaginings were unfortunately interrupted by a door opening from down the hall. After shoving Tony into his cage, Loki had returned to the bathroom to take his own shower. From his spot on the kitchen counter he caught only a short glimpse of Loki’s retreating form. ‘ _Okay, that’s way more of Loki then I ever needed to see. Repress it Tony, repress it._ ’ He thought frantically as the image of only a green towel wrapped lowly around the God’s hips continued to burn into his minds’ inner eye. ‘ _Oh god, it‘s not going away!_ ’ He shuddered and shook his head vigorously, physically trying to dislodge the horrifying memory from his head.

Loki reappeared in a matter of minutes, dressed in a suit similar to what he’d worn yesterday, only there was a dark green tint to the black suit. He didn’t so much as glance at Tony as he moved deeper into the kitchen and started the up-to-date coffee brewer. From there, Loki moved to the fridge to pull out a carton of milk and then some sugar out of a nearby cupboard. As the coffee brewed, Loki left the kitchen and then the apartment altogether, leaving the door open slightly in his wake.

Tony stared at it in an almost hypnotic manner, because that right there was his damn ticket to freedom. He could see the landing, the banister to the stairs leading both up and down, a door on the other side of the hall. Another minute passed as he stared at his escape route, and without realizing it, Tony had padded up to the bars of his cage, his paws desperately pushing and pulling against the door’s metal latch, willing with every fiber of his being for it to open.

Loki returned to stand in the open doorway, those green eyes focusing on him in less than a second. A smirk slipped over his face as he closed the door slowly behind him with one hand, the other was holding a newspaper.

“Missed me, Anthony?” Loki asked, his amused voice cutting across the room. Tony lowered his front paws and took a few hasty steps back towards his corner of the cage. He imagined he’d looked very pitiful a few moments ago, and damn it, didn’t that just sting his already broken pride. The image of a pet pawing at the door while desperately waiting for its’ owner to return, seared into the back of his mind.

It made Tony hate himself even more.

“ _No… oh shit, I was supposed to lie and say yes, wasn’t I? You’re never supposed to say the N-O word in a situation like this. It makes the captor angry and unstable– well, more unstable than before in your case._ ” He said while looking up and down at Loki, as if he were gauging at what level of crazy the God was currently on. Loki wasn’t smirking anymore, which Tony was both pleased and annoyed to see. Getting one up on Reindeer Games was great. He just didn’t want to end up with four broken legs because of it.

‘ _Find the line Tony_.’ He thought to himself. ‘ _Then you can tiptoe around it all you like, until then keep your mouth shut._ ’

Good advice and it had been given to him by Yinsen after he’d returned from one of his “lessons” for mouthing off in Afghanistan. Tony had remarked that he’d never find that line if he didn’t search for it and Yinsen had merely sighed tiredly before agreeing in the end. “ _Then walk with an air of caution my friend, and keep your senses about you. That line is very hard to spot when it comes to some people._ ”

Tony jolted slightly as Loki suddenly made himself comfortable at the countertop his cage rested on. He shifted in his corner of the cage, shuffling further away from the God, as Rock of Ages was way too close for his taste. Loki paid him no mind and instead focused on the newspaper in his left hand, while his right occasionally brought a steaming coffee mug up to his lips.

‘ _Mmm... I remember coffee. It always tasted best when it when some scotch was added._ ’ He thought to himself as he inhaled the heavenly aroma. Nothing tasted better than coffee at four in the morning. Tony felt his stomach roll in protest though, whether from hunger or nausea, he wasn’t exactly sure. Now that he thought about, his body felt a little off and not in the “Hey, I’m suddenly a cat!” kind of way, but in an “Ugh, I should never have eaten that day old sushi” way.

“Now, Anthony.” Loki said, once again forcing him out of his thoughts. “I must tend to some business today, meaning you will be on your own for some time. So please, try to restrain yourself from missing my presence too much.” He growled wordlessly in response and Loki merely gave a daunting chuckle before leaving the apartment.

Tony nestled himself more comfortably in his corner and tried to get some sleep. He wasn’t really feeling all that well to start an argument anyways.

* * *

So Loki was fucking missing. Fury was not all that surprised to hear that he had escaped, not when Thor had boarded the Helicarrier with the rest of the Avengers, looking grim and haggard. It was petty, but his bruised ego was soothed slightly by the news, knowing that he wasn’t the only one who had trouble containing that slippery little bastard.

What he had not been expecting though, was the information that followed.

“You want to run that one by me again, Thor?” Fury asked as his eyebrows shot up to greet his forehead. It wasn’t often that he heard something that shocked him to the point of disbelief, but he seemed to be experiencing that rare moment now.

“As I said Director, my father punished the Son of Stark by transformation. He is currently in the form of a Midgardian creature called a–”

“Are you trying to tell me, that Tony Stark, a man who is quite possibly the most powerful and influential person in the northern hemisphere, has been turned into _a fucking cat?!_ ” Thor merely nodded his head and Fury turned to the other Avengers in the room, very much hoping that Stark was going to pop out at any second and scream April Fools. Doctor Banner had supposedly stayed behind to take care of Miss Potts, but the rest of the Avengers, minus Stark, had come to the Helicarrier to explain the situation in person. Their faces were serious and their stances were rigid, so they weren’t trying to pull one over on him.

Fuck _._

Fury closed his tired eye and swore under his breath as he sunk into his chair. It was silent for a few minutes and an awkward tension began to fill the room. With practiced ease Fury mentally blocked out his current company and tried to think about how he was going to handle this clusterfuck of a situation that Stark had brought down on his head. ‘ _I never should have sent that asshole in the first place._ ’ Fury thought viciously as he pinched the bridge of his nose to ease the migraine that was just beginning to grow.

“I do not understand. I knew the Man of Iron was a powerful warrior in this realm, but is he truly as important as you say?” Thor asked almost timidly, breaking the tense silence and he heard the Captain scoff lightly from behind the God.

Fury looked up to spare Rogers a glare, which seemed to cow the soldier slightly, before turning his attention back to the God of Thunder. Thor, to put it simply, looked like a fucking wreck. What he was wrecked with though was anybody’s guess; was it guilt, shame, worry? In another rare moment, he took pity on the God and lessened his glare slightly.

“Stark is the richest person in the world, that being said he has his fingers in almost everything you can think of. Health Care, the American government, Research facilities, S.H.I.E.L.D. itself has been partially funded by the man for the last two years. Hell, the arrogant bastard even has his own clothing line now, and that’s not even counting all the Iron Man merchandise that’s been pouring out of his ass for the last year and a half.” Thor’s bemused face showed the Director that the God likely hadn’t understood half of the things he’d said.

“On this planet, money is power and people naturally flock to power. Stark’s no idiot, he realized this fact early on in life, he has connections with people from all over the world. The greatest men and woman of our age and each one are on his guest list for every charity event he throws.” He paused, remembering the last soirée Stark had thrown little over a month ago. What a fucking mess that had been. Stark and the Prime Minister of Sweden had somehow ended up in a five-star hotel in Beijing. The press had a goddamn field day with that one.

“That stunt with the missile during the Chitauri Invasion only boosted his public image, not to mention his company’s stocks. Everyone wants to shake Stark’s hand, even if he’s personally a pain in the ass to deal with. They admire his confidence, his intelligence, and his lack of restraints. He’s considered the world’s greatest hero at the moment.” He gave an irritated sigh, because despite how much he disliked Stark, Fury could understand why the public adored Iron Man so damn much.

“So yes Thor, to answer your question Stark is a pretty fucking important person. One who is apparently nowhere to be found. Care to explain to how the hell you lost him?” Fury continued with an angry growl and glared at the God who actually shuffled his feet a little.

“There was an out of control metal carriage with Midgardians trapped inside. I meant only to leave the Man of Iron alone for but a moment. However, when I returned, he was nowhere to be found. I searched, but I could not find him…” Thor trailed off as his eyes moved to stare down at his hands, Mjolnir resting at this waist.

It might just be Thor’s imagination, but last night, when he’d held Mjolnir moments before confronting the others, it had felt slightly heavier to his hands. Perhaps he’d just been tired, but he was not wholly convinced with such reasoning. There were so many things that had gone wrong in the recent months, Loki’s attack on Midgard merely being the beginning. A voice in the back of his head, one that sounded suspiciously like his brother, wondered if he was slowly losing the right to wield Mjolnir as his own.

He felt so conflicted. His loyalty for his brother was still sturdy, but perhaps that was what was wrong. After all, had Loki not proven himself to be untruthful and vengeful? Should he not hate his brother for all the wicked deeds he’s committed?

Thor could not though, there existed no part of him that hated Loki or resented him for what his brother had done. He loved Loki and always would. If such an act made him unworthy to hold Mjolnir, then he would willingly spend the rest of his life brandishing another weapon.

‘ _Perhaps it is not my loyalty to Loki that is at fault, but the loyalty I hold towards father?_ ’ Thor thought miserably as he hung his head in shame. A son was supposed to be steadfast, but the recent year had him questioning his father more than he’d ever done before in his life. ‘ _Then again, perhaps I am simply not worthy to hold Mjolnir. I could not even save my brother from falling into darkness._ ’

“Alright, first we need to know what Stark looks like now before we can even start a search.” Director Fury said, bringing Thor out his thoughts.

“He is small, smaller than my own hand and his fur is mostly brown. There’s white on his paws and ears, also the light in his chest is still with him in his current form.” Thor explained and Fury nodded before ordering his agents to monitor camera feeds within a three block radius of Stark Tower.

“Have Doctor Banner see if he can locate Stark by trying to track him through the Arc Reactor. I have no idea what sort of energy it might give off, so the good doctor will be flying blind on this one. Also, have Miss Potts place up a reward for Stark. Say he’s a missing pet or something.” Fury ordered and the Avengers nodded. “Now, let’s talk about our other missing person. We need to find Loki and fast. I doubt Stark’s sudden disappearance and Loki’s escape being brought to light at the same time is just a case of poor timing on our part.”

“Wait, you think Loki’s got Stark, sir? Surely, this is just coincidence.” Rogers said doubtfully but Fury kept his lone eye on Thor, who suddenly looked very pale, his gaze shifting to the floor.

“I stopped believing in coincidences a long time ago, Rogers.” Fury growled as he continued to study Thor. The God slowly brought his eyes up to meet his and he gritted his teeth at the worried look that was being sent his way. “Loki can find Stark, can’t he?” The Avengers, save Agent Romanoff, shifted anxiously behind Thor who nodded slowly in response.

“My brother, he can feel the magical imprints of others. I have no doubt that Loki would be able to sense my father’s mark on the Son of Stark. We must find him, quickly.” Thor said gravely and Fury barely resisted the urge to slam his fists onto the arms of his chair.

* * *

Tony was feeling horrible, not Palladium poisoning horrible, but it was still pretty bad. He recognized that he had a fever, as it was similar to what he’d woken up to after getting an infection from the surgery Yinsen had performed on him to insert the Arc Reactor. ‘ _Shit, the Ratzilla cuts, they must have gotten infected at some point during the night._ ’ He thought slowly as a shiver wrecked through his overheated body. ‘ _How the fuck is it even possible to feel this cold and hot at the same time?_ ’

The sudden opening of the front door made him look up quickly and he instantly regretted the action as his head throbbed in pain. Loki closed the door normally, but to Tony, the noise was amplified to the point of painful and he hissed weakly at the God for causing the deafening sound. Loki then said something in response, but the words were too muffled for him to make out.

“ _Yeah, yeah, I hate you too._ ” Tony mumbled halfheartedly as he buried his face into his paws, trying to block out the lights that were suddenly too bright. He could hear Loki moving about somewhere nearby and tried to ignore the God. He was surprisingly successful until he felt Loki pull him out of his cage.

“Of course, I could always situate your–” Loki cut his threat short as he felt the heat exuding from Anthony’s small body. He righted the mortal so that he could look into his eyes, only to find them milky and lacking their usual heated glare. “You are unwell.” He said lowly as his eyes narrowed at the small feline.

“ _Yeah, well, it happens on occasion to us lowly mortals._ ” Tony muttered tiredly before biting back a groan. He suddenly felt really dizzy and oddly enough, dangling from six feet off the ground wasn’t really helping any.

Loki hissed in irritation at the mortal. True he wanted Anthony to suffer, he’d actually planned to psychologically torment his captive tonight, reducing the Man of Iron into a quivering pitiful mess, but this was different. For all he knew, a sick mortal was a dead one. He had no knowledge in such an area to determine whether Anthony’s illness was fatal or not.

He eyed the cat in his hands and mentally assessed his reservoirs of magic. Healing spells were the most costly of magics, especially when used on another. He growled again, this time in frustration, as he realized healing Anthony would take up most of the magic that he’d collected.

He would have to take care of this the mortal way then.

Turning back to the door, Loki grabbed his coat and ignored his umbrella, seeing as the rain outside had begun to lighten. Anthony mumbled something that was no doubt threatening, but he paid the mortal no mind as he made his way out of the building.

There was no sun out, for which Tony was grateful for, he didn’t think his headache could handle anything that bright at the moment. There was a light drizzle coming down and it felt good on his small feverish body, until a slight wind renewed his shivering and then he wanted nothing more than to go back inside.

As the water continued to fall, Tony suddenly felt the very urgent need to take a piss. He eyed the tree someone had thoughtfully planted on the sidewalk and weighed his options. One, he could embarrassingly ask Loki to let him do his business, or two, just piss on the God of Mischief instead. Deciding that his pride was going to take a hit no matter what he chose, Tony took the option that was the less likely to get him skinned alive.

“ _Hey Reindeer Games, nature calls._ ” Tony said crudely, only slightly humiliated with his current situation. It wasn’t like he’d never had to tell his guards in Afghanistan that he’d needed to use the bathroom.

“Oh, and you think I am just going to put you on the ground so that you can escape?” Loki asked as the taxi cab he hailed pulled up to the curb. Tony narrowed his eyes at the vehicle as he shifted in Loki’s grip, wondering just where the hell they were going.

“ _Look, you have two options here, Rudolph. You either let me mark my territory on that tree, or I’ll mark it on you when we’re in the car._ ” Tony replied simply as he looked up at Loki who sighed in annoyance.

Loki put his hand in his coat pocket, magically conjuring a green leash that matched Anthony’s collar in color, before pulling it out and attaching it to said collar. He placed the small kitten on the ground, who ambled over to the tree at a sedated pace. No doubt his illness was taking effect. Loki turned to the mortal driver who, thankfully, did not seem nearly as rude or as impatient as his predecessors.

“Is there a healing center for my pet anywhere nearby?” Loki asked the dark skinned mortal, putting out a friendly and warm appearance. He’d found rather quickly that his silvertongue was much more useful in this realm, rather than his demanding nature. And if he had to play nice with the mortals to keep his cover, then he would do so without hesitation. He was not so foolish as to give up his position simply to soothe his pride.

“Sure man, dere be a vet’s place jus’da few blocks over.” The mortal said as he pushed his overly large sunglasses down the bridge of his nose to look at Loki. The God noticed that the driver styled his facial hair to look the way Anthony’s had been a few months ago and that he also wore an Iron Man tunic.

Loki had of course seen the various displays in merchandise on Midgard that carried the Soldier’s symbol on it or the Man of Iron’s helm that the mortal children wore in public. It disgusted him, the way these people worshipped their “heroes”. The only saving grace was that he’d seen little of the other Avengers represented through such menial tokens. He didn’t think he could stomach seeing any broods running around with miniature Mjolnir’s

Loki turned his attention towards Anthony, who was currently biting tiredly on his leash. It was amusing to say the least and the mortal driver apparently thought so as well.

“Cute cat man, is de little guy sick?” The driver asked and Loki shot him a side glance as he nodded slowly, taking in Anthony’s suddenly rigid posture. He’d obviously heard the mortal’s compliment, or more likely insult, in Anthony’s opinion.

“Yes, he is rather adorable isn’t he?” Loki mused out loud and he laughed slightly at Anthony’s indignant sounding hiss. “Come Anthony, we must be on our way.” Loki said firmly as he gave a firm tug on the leash, making Anthony stumble a little.

“ _Alright Rock of Ages, I’m coming. Try to remember that I have four legs now instead two. Fucking leash._ ” Tony grumbled as Loki gave another hard tug. He reluctantly let Loki pick him up as they got into the cab and tried to sit in the seat, only to have Loki firmly place him on his lap. He went to move again, but the God’s grip tightened dangerously and he understood the silent message loud and clear.

Sit, stay, or else I’ll break you like a fucking Kit Kat bar.

Once Anthony remained still, the mortal driver pulled out onto the street and Loki turned his attention to the shivering creature sitting on his lap. It was merely by luck so far that the driver had yet to see the mechanism in Anthony’s chest. It had been foolish to leave the apartment without first hiding the machine from mortal sight. Loki closed his eyes and focused his magic, channeling a cloaking spell over the mechanism so that no Midgardian would be able to see it.

He felt Anthony stiffen in his spot, but the mortal gave no other sign of recognizing that a spell had been placed on him.

By the time he was finished, they arrived at the animal healing center. He paid the driver, who gave Anthony a rather vigorous pat on the head before returning to the streets of New York once more. He mostly ignored Anthony’s bitter insults directed at the driver and entered the small building. Loki was greeted to a moderately sized waiting room occupied by a handful of mortals and their pets.

“ _Oh hey, look at that, dogs, lots of big dogs._ ” Anthony said and Loki spotted the group of animals he was referring to. A young girl and her elder sat together, their hands each holding the leashes that belonged to three rather large creatures. The beasts did not look unfriendly to him, but their attention was focused solely on Anthony, making the small mortal shift deeper into the God’s arms. Loki smiled to himself and sat down next to the two females, completely ignoring the open chairs on the other side of the room.

“Oh mom, look, isn’t she just the cutest kitty you’ve ever seen.” The young girl crooned as soon as she spotted Anthony. The mother merely nodded her head in response before turning her attention back to the device in her hand. Loki simply smiled politely, purposefully not bothering to correct her.

‘ _She! What the hell?_ ’ Tony griped inwardly. He was just getting over the fact that he was no longer human. He really didn’t need tween girls making digs about his masculinity at this point. The three dogs, Doberman he was pretty sure they were called, moved forward with deep growls. Instinct took over, or at least that was the excuse Tony had decided to use should anyone ever ask him what happened next.

He let out a high pitched meow that was basically equivalent to a shout and launched himself into Loki’s arms, burying his small head into the crook of the God’s neck. His body shook and not from the chills of his fever or from the laughter that was coursing through Loki’s body, but from fear of the fucking dogs who were trying to eat him!

The mother quickly apologized and pulled the dogs away from him with a “bad babies”. ‘ _Seriously lady, how the fuck are those things considered babies?_ ’ And Loki assured the woman that no harm was done as he patted Tony’s head, saying that he was a rather cowardly creature. ‘ _Cowardly my ass, it’s called self-preservation you dickhead!_ ’ He thought angrily as he moved back down to sit on Loki’s lap, ‘ _Hello shame, yes it is lovely day, isn’t it?_ ’, and eyed the dogs nervously. Eventually the dogs left when a veterinarian came out and gave the mom some pills that her mutts apparently needed.

“ _If I were her I’d just put the little bastards to sleep._ ” Tony hissed and the dogs growled back at him. Loki merely rose an eyebrow in response, before addressing the vet who’d come up to greet them.

“Yeah, I don’t like that type of dog much either little guy.” The veterinarian said to Tony as he reached out to shake Loki’s hand. “Hello, I’m Dr. Keller. I don’t believe you’ve ever been here before, correct?” Keller asked as he pulled out the clipboard from underneath his other arm.

“Yes, this is my first time even talking to an animal doctor. You see, I found this little one roaming the streets last night and, well, I just couldn’t leave him out there, not in that horrible storm.” Loki said as Tony scoffed, which sounded more like a sneeze. ‘ _You left me out in the rain on purpose, jackass!_ ’ As if reading his thoughts, Loki gave Tony a tight squeeze that left him sputtering for air.

“Ah, so we don’t have a medical history for the little guy. That’s alright, we’ll just have to start one now. He’s most likely a stray anyways. Let’s start with his name, shall we?” Dr. Keller said as he brought a pen up to the clipboard. The forms took about twenty minutes to fill out before Dr. Keller brought them into the examination room.

Keller quickly found the scratches Ratzilla had left behind and prescribed the recommended antibiotics to fight off the infection. The bastard tried to take his temperature early on, just to see what sort of danger level the fever was at, but Tony had absolutely refused to have anything shoved up his ass.

Loki’s laughter was still ringing in his ears.

“All he needs now are his shots and little Anthony here should be good for the next couple of months.” Keller said as he brought out a needle, tapping on the shaft lightly to release any air bubbles.

“ _Ah, yeah, fuck no!_ ” He shouted as he moved to the end of the table, preparing to jump, but was caught before he could even attempt to escape. The examination hadn’t been too bad until now, rectal thermometer aside. Keller had been gentle when he’d bandaged up his wounds, while explaining to Loki all the things an owner would need for their new pet. Tony put up with it all, his body too tired to let him make a fuss. Needles though, those little devils warranted a reaction.

Tony Stark _did not_ do needles.

“Aw, come on Anthony, don’t be a scaredy-cat. The only thing you’ll feel is a little pinch and then it’s all over. Everybody gets shots.” Keller said softly, though it had no effect on Tony who was hissing insults at the man that would have mortified Rogers. Keller looked up at Loki for help, who was taking in Tony’s reaction with an interested gleam in his dark green eyes.

“Be still, Anthony.” Loki stated simply as he wrapped his hands threateningly around the mortal’s small frame. He felt Anthony instantly stiffen in his hold and Keller quickly inserted the needle in-between Anthony’s shoulder blades. Once the needle pulled away, Anthony all but collapsed into his hands, his shivering renewed once more and oddly silent for once. Loki thought about dropping the mortal back onto the table, but as Keller was watching him, he reluctantly brought Anthony close to his chest.

“Well Mr. Smith, that should be everything. As I said before, just make sure he takes his medicine with every evening meal and he should be better within the week.” Tony meanwhile, rolled his eyes at Loki’s attempt at an alias, Lyle Smith, as in Liesmith. ‘ _Oh, how very creative of you Reindeer Games._ ’ “Also, make sure to pick up the supplies little Anthony needs soon, you don’t want him to make a mess of your house.” Keller said good-naturedly and Loki chuckled as he heard Tony growl in response.  

“I shan’t, now, say thank you Anthony.” Loki ordered as he smirked down at Tony who did mutter a thanks to the doctor. After all, the guy did just give him drugs so that he wouldn’t feel like shit anymore. It’s not like Keller knew that he was actually a person instead of a cat. Besides, he didn’t feel petty enough to hold a grudge against a guy he’d likely never see again.

“It’s not surprising how temperamental the little guy is, considering how you found him.” Keller said as his hand brushed over some of the shallow scratches Anthony had given him when he’d tried to take his temperature. “I wouldn’t put him any older than eight weeks. You might have a problem with wool-sucking, it occurs when a kitten stops weaning too soon. It’s a behavior where Anthony will resort to sucking on items such as blankets, sweaters, shoelaces, fingers and even bathmats and carpets.” The doctor continued as he gestured to the cat in Loki’s hold.

“ _The hell I will._ ” Anthony grumbled resentfully, visibly appalled at the very suggestion that he would do something so demeaning and infantile. Keller reached over to pat his head, taking the unintelligible curses as an invite. Loki allowed himself to smirk as Anthony stiffened, clearly uncomfortable with being touched in such a way.

“Generally, this behavioral habit isn’t dangerous, some owners actually find it endearing, but it’s possible that he could accidentally ingest carpet fibers and that could cause digestive problems later in.” The healer paused, giving them bother and assessing look before nodding to himself. “Considering he’s so young, Anthony has most likely imprinted on you. Or will.”

“ _Okay, this stupid asshole has no idea what he’s talking about._ ” Anthony growled as he struggled in Loki’s grip, who chuckled at the healers’ absurd statement.

“Indeed.” He said towards the healer, though it was truly meant for Anthony who had at least stopped struggling after realizing that he wasn’t letting go. Loki nodded farewell to the healer and returned to the streets. At his hail a new taxi arrived, which he took to the nearest pet supply store. The driver patiently waited while also watching over Anthony as Loki had gone into the store, making sure to only get the essentials Keller had described and nothing more.

They returned to the apartment and Loki set up Anthony’s litter box, his mouth taking on the form of a disgusted sneer before spelling the box to vanish any waste on its own. He then turned to the mortal, whom he’d placed back in the cage, and examined the state of his little captive.

Anthony’s eyes were closed and his chest rose and fell rapidly, his heavy panting audible in the quiet room. He approached the cage and Anthony’s right ear flicked back before his eyes slowly opened, but there was no other response. Loki retrieved the mortal’s medicine and held it out for Anthony, who took it without protest before burying his head under his paws.

With an irritated grunt, Loki left Anthony in his cage and entered his bedchamber, leaving his door open slightly before settling into a meditative stance on his bed. It was late in the afternoon and with his evening now free, he’d decided to focus his mind and magic inwardly to once again work at the releasing his magic from Odin’s binds.

He would deal with Anthony later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, that chapter’s done, which was honestly such a pain in the ass to make. Loki is so fucking hard to write; I have to keep in mind that he talks all smart-like so it’s hard to think of things for him to say that actually sound like they’d come from him. 
> 
> Tony is easy. Loki... yeah, not so much.
> 
> We got a little bit of Fury’s and Thor’s perspective in there, which is good cause you guys were probably wondering what the hell S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers were doing, so there ya go. They’re not doing much at this point. Remember, we’re only on day two of Tony being a cat and missing.
> 
> –Hexalys


End file.
